"It is a growing problem and my question is a question that concerns a lot of people in my own country and other European countries - what have we learned and what are we going to do about this ever rising and vicious, absolutely vicious kind of anti-Semitism in Western democracies," the diplomat said at a discussion on the Holocaust at the Lithuanian parliament.
"In the Netherlands, twenty years ago, we thought we had put that evil to rest to the extent that it even became unfashionable to be anti-Semitic. But then 20 years ago I didn't really think I would live to see the day that a Jew in Amsterdam is advised not to wear his kettle for fear of provoking the reaction of people who believe anti-Semitism is actually a good thing," Spaans said.
Over the past year, the number of reports on escalating anti-Semitic sentiments has been on the rise in Europe.
In November, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights should publish data on manifestations of anti-Semitism in nine countries, namely, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
