A senior European Union official said a request to accommodate religious Jewish customs for university students is ‘’understandable” and ‘’part of freedom of religion as a fundamental right which we defend.’’

However, Katarina von Schnurbein, EU Coordinator on combating Anti-Semitism, told European Jewish Press that the concrete application of this right is in the discretion of national authorities and universities and ‘’cannot be decided on European level.’’

She was responding to a call by Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director General of the European Jewish Association (EJA) to EU leaders and European Ministers of Education to recognize the right for Jewish students to be absent from classes to observe a religious holiday without facing penalties.

The call follows recent complaints concerning examination dates coinciding with Jewish festivals or with Shabbat which force students to choose between abandoning either a moral or academic obligation.

For Rabbi Margolin, as universities represent bastions of cultural diversity, they should be able to respond and cater to the needs and beliefs of their students ‘’whatever their cultural or religious background.’’

‘’Freedom of religion is an individual right that can be exercised by everyone everywhere and Europe should respect it,’’ he said.