State secretary meets leaders of US west coast Jewish organisations

Washington, DC, December 10 (MTI) – Senior government official Szabolcs Takacs met leaders of prominent Jewish organisations and institutions and representatives of Hungarian organisations in the west coast of the United States.

Takacs, state secretary at the prime minister’s office, told MTI over the phone on Wednesday evening that he held talks in Los Angeles with the leaders of Bais Naftoli Orthodox Congregation, the USC Shoah Foundation, the American Jewish University and the city’s Holocaust Museum during the week.

He said he briefed his partners about the Hungarian government’s measures of fighting anti-Semitism and including education about the Holocaust in the national curriculum.

Takacs said he also gave his partners an outline of the 12-month Hungarian Chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) running until next March. Takacs serves as Chair of IHRA for 2015.

He said most of his partners agreed with the Hungarian government’s migration policy.

The state secretary said the topic of plans to erect a monument to Horthy-era minister Balint Homan in central Hungary only came up during talks with the leaders of the Holocaust Museum. Takacs said his negotiating partners were more interested in how the government sees the future of European Jewish communities in light of the recent terrorist attacks on the continent.

He said he also paid a visit to the Los Angeles Hungarian House and attended a programme of a local Hungarian reformed congregation.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters