Nyhed Anti-Semitism

Concern over the EU’s silence on Nazi salute.

Following the lack of response from the EU's anti-Semitism coordinator, MEP Per Clausen has now taken contact directly to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, demanding a reaction to Elon Musk's controversial gesture.

Foto: The Left

05. februar 2025 Kl 8:50

Opdateret: 10. februar 2025 Kl 14:06

Pelle Christy Geertsen

05. februar 2025 Kl 8:50
Opdateret: 10. februar 2025 Kl 14:06

When the EU, days after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, had avoided the issue of Elon Musk on stage – twice – doing what would appear to be a Nazi-salute, Danish Left MEP Per Clausen decided he could wait no more for a reaction:

In the absence of any reaction from the European Commission about something that clearly should worry us all, I decided to reach out the EU’s coordinator on the fight against anti-Semitism, Ms. Katharina von Schnurbein.

The official letter to the EU-coordinator was sent on 24th January, however more than 10 days later, MEP Clausen has not even received an acknowledgement of receipt of his letter. This worries him, as it could be taken as another indicator that the EU prefers to pretend it did not happen at all – despite all of the attention it got:

I am both surprised and worried by the fact that the European Commission’s own coordinator on anti-Semitism cannot even reply to an elected member of the European Parliament on a potentially very serious issue relating to the core of her responsibility, says Mr. Clausen, and continues:

I cannot help but wonder: If the anti-Semitism coordinator of the EU cannot reply to the implications of the world’s richest man, who not only own a popular social media platform that has seen a clear increase in hate-speech, but also likes to meddle in European Politics, doing a Nazi-salute – what can the coordinator actually do?

Taking it to the top

Considering the lack of reaction from both the European Commission and the anti-Semitism coordinator, Per Clausen has today taken further action. He has both sent a letter directly to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is ultimately responsible for the work of Ms. Schnurbein, as well as submitted an official parliamentary question, with the Commission is obliged to answer to.

I would be surprised if the Commission will refuse to reply to a direct question and an official letter from the European Parliament. However should that happen, then we will need to dust of the full parliamentary toolbox we have at our disposal. We should not simply pretend something like this didn’t happen. History has shown that is not an effective strategy, says Mr. Clausen.