Pointing to concerns about anti-Semitism, the French presidency’s office said Friday that French head of state Emmanuel Macron will not attend the United Nations anti-racism conference in New York in September, MTI reported.
Anti-Semitic statements were made earlier at the United Nations conference that followed the Conference against Racism, making France the 11th country to opt out.
Previously HungaryIsrael, the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands also announced a boycott of the meeting for similar reasons.
France is committed to the universality of human rights, and will continue to combat all forms of racism and ensure that the conference is held in accordance with the principles of the United Nations.
– Countries in French contact. Last year, Emmanuel Macron warned of the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. He described anti-Semitism as a hidden evil, as he put it, taking a new mask next to his face in the form of Islamic hatred.
Several countries, including France, no longer attend the 2009 and 2011 anti-racism conferences, respectively. The first conference was held in twenty years, from 31 August to 8 September 2001, in Durban, South Africa.
The meeting split over issues of anti-Semitism, colonialism and slavery. Representatives of the United States and Israel left the conference to protest the tone of the talks after some NGOs used the incident to accuse Israel of genocide and to distribute the famous anti-Semitic pamphlet, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
