Kosovo's parliament has endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
Ines Demiri, Chargé d’Affaires of Kosovo to the State of Israel, made the announcement in a post to her Twitter account on Thursday.
“The Assembly of the Republic of Kosova today unanimously voted and adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism,” she wrote.
Israel’s Ambassador to Kosovo, Tammy Ziv, thanked the country’s parliament for the move and tweeted, “I want to thank the 79 MPs of all ruling and opposition parties in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosova who today unanimously voted and adopted the IHRA's working definition of antisemitism. We remain committed to bringing our two countries and people closer.”
The IHRA working definition offers a comprehensive description of antisemitism in its various forms, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial and, sometimes controversially, the way antisemitism relates to the ways criticism of Israel is expressed.
More than half the states in the US have adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition, plus the District of Columbia, either as legislation or as an educational standard.
The federal government of Canada has also adopted the IHRA definition, as have several Canadian provinces.
Other countries to have adopted the definition include Germany, Britain, Austria, Romania, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. In 2017, the European Parliament voted to adopt a resolution calling on member states and their institutions to apply the IHRA definition.
Kosovo and Israel established diplomatic ties in 2021. Later, Kosovo formally opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.