Albania hosts online forum to combat antisemitism

Albania held an online forum against antisemitism on 28th October, the first time an event directly addressing the issue has been staged in the Balkans.

The Balkans Forum Against Antisemitism, originally set to be an in-person conference, was organised by Albania’s Parliament in conjunction with the Jewish Agency and the New York-based Combat Antisemitism Movement. Participants and panelists were comprised of Speakers of Parliament from Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia and officials from the United States, United Nations, United Kingdom and Israel.

Organisers of the online event stated that it was aimed at the establishment of “a united front among the Balkans” that acts against antisemitism by removing hatred and prejudice from political discourse and establishing a “more tolerant” Europe. In the webinar, Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, called rising rates of antisemitism “a threat to our own civilisation…upon which our common future is being built.”

In the week prior to the forum, Albania’s Parliament unanimously approved the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, becoming the first Muslim-majority country to do so.

The Speaker of Albania’s Parliament said: “All nations that throughout history have protected Jews from extermination and support them today against stigma have a right to be proud.”

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