A group of young neo-Nazis tried to break into a hotel in Sofia on August 2, where Italian Jewish teenagers from Rome and Milan and their teachers were sta…
A group of young neo-Nazis tried to break into a hotel in Sofia on August 2, where Italian Jewish teenagers from Rome and Milan and their teachers were staying. All the leading Italian media, including the Italian news agency ANSA, the newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, the news media “Sky TG 24”, the financial publication “Sole 24 Ore”, the right-wing newspaper “Jornale”, the national media “RAI News”, the agency “La Presse” and others, reported BTA.
They report that young neo-Nazis gathered in front of the hotel entrance in Sofia and tried to force their way into the building, then blocked access to it. According to the information, even after the intervention of the police, the attackers returned and again blocked the entrance to the hotel, which was defined by the media as “a severe act of anti-Semitism in the heart of Europe”.
A number of sites, including La Presse, ANSA and RAI News, also published footage of the incident, showing youths dressed in black outside the hotel entrance chanting “Sieg Heil” and giving a Nazi salute.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Antonio Tajani, sent a message of solidarity with the Italian youth affected by the incident. “I express solidarity with the group of young Italian Jews who were attacked and threatened in a hotel in Sofia. I condemn this next act of anti-Semitism. This is a phenomenon that must be fought against, a form of hatred and discrimination that must be eradicated,” Tajani said in Aix, “Sky TG 24” and “Agentia Nova” write.
Ignazio La Russa, the president of the upper house of the Italian parliament – the Senate, also condemned what happened in the strongest terms, which he described as “a very serious episode that affected a group of Italian Jewish teenagers in Bulgaria”, writes “Sky TG 24”. La Russa expressed solidarity with the affected children, their families and the Jewish community in Rome and Milan and stressed that “anti-Semitism and any form of hatred cannot find any place in our society”. La Russa also expressed hope that the competent authorities will quickly verify the facts and identify those responsible.
The head of the Jewish community in Rome, Victor Fadlun, said it was a “shameful provocation”. “Our children are not free to travel around Europe without being exposed to violence and verbal abuse from anti-Semites,” Faldun said. He described what happened as “another act of anti-Semitism directed against Italian Jewish teenagers and their educators in a member state of the European Union.” Faldun called on the Bulgarian authorities “to fully clarify the case and for those responsible for this attack to be identified and brought to justice as soon as possible.”
The Union of Italian Jewish Communities said it “expresses solidarity with young Italian Jews over the case. These are incidents that continue to recur with increasingly alarming frequency. For our part, we will take all possible actions to ensure that Jewish life in all its manifestations can continue to develop peacefully and safely for Italian and European Jews,” added the Union of Italian Jewish Communities.
Illustrative photo: pexels-pham-ngoc-anh-170983008-28901674
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