Putin invited Jews from Europe to Russia with a smile

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Jews to the Russian Federation, who do not feel safe in European countries at present. He stated this during a meeting with representatives of the European Jewish Congress (Select) after the comment that, due to the influx of refugees to Europe, Jews became difficult.

This was told by the President by the head of the Sea of ​​Vyacheslav Kantor. According to him, the position of Jews in Europe today is "the worst since the end of the Second World War" and they "flee from yesterday, still prosperous Europe," "Interfax quotes it. Journalist Dmitry Smirnov quotes another quote from Cantor: according to him, Jews leave "even more from France than from Ukraine." According to the cantor, the manifestations of anti -Semitism annually increase by 40%.

Putin said to this with a smile: "Let them go to us. In the Soviet Union they left, let them return." The proposal of the head of the Russian state caused the reciprocal smiles of the audience, the Interfax indicates. Cantor in response said: "This is a fundamentally new fundamental idea. We will discuss it at the congress. And I hope we support you."

Kantor indicated that the situation has changed in recent years against the backdrop of the crisis: “In the fat, rich years, liberal democratic Europe coped with the problems of foreign communities. But since the beginning of the crisis, Europe has changed. We see the explosive growth of nationalism, xenophobia, racism, as mushrooms grow right -radical movements. Manifestations of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism are spurring these moods.

Reacting to Cantor’s statement that the position of Jews in Europe is currently the worst since the Second World War, Putin did not agree with this point of view. "I do not think that after all there is as bad as you say," Putin said.

Nevertheless, he admitted that he was familiar with this problem: "I saw, watched reports, there people are afraid to put on a kipa in public places, they even try to hide nationality."

In Russia, Putin said, Jewish communities launched active activity, as evidenced by the transcript of the meeting on the Kremlin website . In the introductory word, the president, in particular, stated: “New synagogues and secular centers are opening. More recently, another center has opened near Moscow. I didn’t have enough time to get there, but the rabbi invited, I’ll definitely go, I will see it in the pictures, everything was made very in a very good thing, at the same time, this is a rather modest center and a religious center. And in the regions of the Russian Federation, and in the regions of the Russian Federation. In this sense, both clerical and secular.