site.btaBulgaria Joins Buenos Aires Meeting against Antisemitism

Deputy Foreign Minister and National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism Nevyana Miteva led a Bulgarian delegation to a meeting of the Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism forum of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), held in Buenos Aires between July 16 and 18, the Bulgarian Embassy in Argentina told BG World, a service of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

The theme of the meeting was "Building a Safer Future". It commemorated the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. July 18, the date of the Buenos Aires bombing in 1994, was also the date of the Burgas bus bombing against Israeli tourists on the Bulgarian coast in 2012.

The discussion focused on current challenges in the context of the Israel-Hamas war, which started on October 7, 2023, and the role of governments. Bulgaria presented its National Action Plan for Combating Antisemitism and recalled that the Bulgarian OSCE Chairmanship in 2004 initiated the OSCE Antisemitism Conference in Berlin, the first one of its kind, held 20 years ago.

Miteva also attended a WJC security forum in Buenos Aires. Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich provided her auspices for the event and presided over it.

During the discussions, special attention was paid to the fight against hatred, division and violence through the internet. The participants also looked at contemporary technology, organized crime and informal financial flows.

The forum adopted global guidelines for combating antisemitism, aimed at facilitating national governments in drawing up strategies and measures against this discriminatory movement. The document was supported by 36 countries of Europe, the Americas and Australia.

Deputy Foreign Minister Miteva held a series of separate talks on the sidelines of the WJC meeting. She talked with Deborah Lipstadt, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, who thanked the Bulgarian authorities for their determination to prevent division in society. Lipstadt noted the traditional tolerance of the Bulgarian people. According to her, the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II is a model to be emulated today.

Miteva has more bilateral meetings on her agenda in Argentina. She plans to visit the Bulgarian community in Berisso, a suburb of Buenos Aires, and to pay tribute at the local monument to Bulgarian freedom fighter Vasil Levski.