Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the Austrian National Council, participated in the EJA symposium on 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in Cracow.
"As Austrians, we will not avoid responsibility," Sobotka said at the opening event. "We need not only to listen to Holocaust survivors and descendants but also to translate the fight against antisemitism into political action. No compromise is possible in the fight against antisemitism."
Sobotka mentioned the survey which showed that there are still 10% of the Austrian population with antisemitic beliefs and 30 percent with antisemitic perceptions.
"The Austrian parliament has decided to increase the commemoration of the Holocaust," Sobotka noted. "We have also decided to create an independent institute to study antisemitism, anti-Judaism and anti-Zionism. We will also award the Simon Wiesenthal in the fight against antisemitism on national and international level."
"Demonization of Israel is the new form of antisemitism," Sobotka emphasized. "Israel is not treated like any other country."