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BRUSSELS - European Union countries remained divided over how to deal with claims the Holocaust never happened, diplomats said today.
The bloc has struggled for almost six years over proposals for an EU-wide, anti-racism law which would include harmonised rules on helping punish Holocaust denial.
EU president Germany has said it has a historic duty to harmonise EU rules for dealing with claims the massacre of Jews by Nazi Germany never took place, as well as racism in general.
"If you want an agreement on this, there is really a lot of work to do," one of the diplomats said.
Long-standing differences between countries that champion freedom of expression and those that sanction Holocaust denial emerged during Thursday's meeting of justice and interior ministers.
Countries like France have laws to punish those who deny 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War Two, while others such as Denmark favour freedom of speech.
New EU states from the former communist bloc also want the text of any agreement to ban the denial of Stalinist crimes.
Germany wants EU states to be free to decide not to make denial of the Holocaust a crime, as long it does not incite violence or hatred.
"We would really have problems with arresting one of our citizens and handing him over to another country for denying the Holocaust," another diplomat said.
But all countries would have to help states that punish Holocaust denial carry out their investigations, the main point of disagreement, diplomats said.
"All states feel that ... Europe must give a clear message that we will not tolerate, and want to combat racism and xenophobia," German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries told a news conference.
She acknowledged that there were differences, but declined to say how she planned to reach a deal.
- REUTERS
