The European Jewish Congress issued a strongly worded statement on Tuesday rejecting claims accusing Antonio Costa, incoming president of the European Council and former prime minister of Portugal of antisemitism.
Porto Jews Warn New European Union President has Antisemitic History
“The EJC and its Portuguese affiliate, the Jewish Community of Lisbon, expresses its absolute rejection of attempts to impute antisemitic intent to actions of the Costa government tightening up the regulations to the granting of Portuguese citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews,” the organization said in the statement. “These were implemented in the wake of alarm based on alleged abuses on the issuance of and granting of nationality certificates to members of the Jewish communities in Portugal.
Leaders in the Porto Jewish community claim in a newly released book that Costa was involved in the persecution of the strongest Jewish community in Portugal.
Porto Jewish community leaders also claim Costa was behind the repeal of Portugal’s 2015 Nationality Law (a.k.a. the Sephardic Law), which granted Portuguese citizenship to descendants of Jews forced to leave from the country in the 15th century and in the following centuries.
According to the EJC, when he was mayor of Lisbon, Costa had an “exemplary record” in his relations with the city’s local Jewish community, and “personally promoted the public celebration of key Jewish events.”
As Portugal’s prime minister, the EJC said Costa met with Jewish community leaders and “addressed concerns regarding antisemitism both in Portugal and widely in the European Union.”
The organization added, “We are appalled that unsigned online media reports emanating from a certain Jewish group in Portugal would seek to launch an unfounded and potentially libelous attack on Mr. Costa in this way.”
