It is particularly strange for a German politician to criticise Hungary as Germany witnessed 1,824 anti-Semitic incidents last year compared to a total of 35 in Hungary, Slomo Koves, the leading rabbi of the United Hungarian Jewish Community (EMIH) told Hungary s public radio on Tuesday. The rabbi responded to an earlier statement by German EU Minister Michael Roth, who accused Hungary of anti-Semitism in a recent interview.

Although anti-Semitism can be used as a political tool, it is only significant for those who are targets. In this respect, Hungary can be considered a particularly safe place, rabbi Koves Slomo told Hungary public service Kossuth Radio on Tuesday morning. „It is particularly strange that for a German politician to criticise Hungary, as Germany witnessed 1,824 anti-Semitic incidents last year, compared to a total of 35 in Hungary,” the EMIH chief said.

Slomo Koves finds it rather disconcerting that while these data remain stagnant in Hungary, they appear to be growing in Germany each and every year. „It would be important for politicians to take this issue more seriously and refrain from using it as an empty political tool,” he said.

The head of EMIH reacted to the statement of Michael Roth, a German Social Democratic politician and minister of state for Europe, who accused Hungary of anti-Semitism. „One aspect of the Article 7 proceedings against Hungary was the huge anti-Semitism in the country,” Roth said during a recent interview with a German news portal.

Responding to Mr Roth s comments, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto underlined in a Facebook post on Sunday that life for Hungary s Jewish community is safe. „Our Jewish compatriots do not have to be afraid, their cultural festivals do not need to be guarded by soldiers armed to the teeth, we have rebuilt synagogues and cemeteries with state funding and were the proud hosts of the European Maccabi Games last year,” Peter Szijjarto said. The foreign minister asked the German politician to stop his unworthy attacks on the Hungarian people, and decided to summon Germany s ambassador to Budapest in his office, to highlight the fact that Michael Roth s recent statements are unfounded.

2019 saw 1,824 crimes motivated by anti-Semitism, ranging from simple threats and minor bodily harm to murder. The last such incident to cause considerable public outrage took place at the Jewish Yom Kippur feast in Halle, East Germany on 9 October, 2019, when 28-year-old Stephan Baillet – equipped with firearms and homemade explosives – drove into the central synagogue of the town. He tried but repeatedly failed to force his way into the synagogue as 52 worshippers were attending a service inside. Being unable to get in, the assailant shot a 40-year-old woman in the street and then drove to a nearby Turkish restaurant, where he wounded a 20-year-old man.

Court proceedings against the 28-year-old neo-Nazi man began in Magdeburg on 21 July. Balliet is charged with 13 crimes, including homicide, attempted homicide, and grievous bodily harm. Under German law, he may be sentenced to life imprisonment.