On May 5-7, the 14 Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) took place in Budapest. A representative delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), headed by President Vadim Shulman, Secretary General Michael Chlenov and EAJC General Council Chairman Josef Zisels, took part in the Assembly.

Representatives of approximately 100 countries participated in the Assembly. EAJC member Jewish communities received the appropriate number of delegate mandates according to the WJC Charter.

WJC Plenary Assemblies take place once in four years and are usually held in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish State, to signify the WJC's solidarity with Israel. This year, the Assembly was held in Budapest, as a sign of solidarity with the Hungarian Jewish community, where the parliamentary party Jobbik (“The Movement For a Better Hungary”) openly used anti-Semitic rhetoric. The holding of the Assembly was coordinated with the Hungarian Jewish community and the government of Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban assured the gathering at the opening of the Assembly that the national-radicals stand at the margins of society, are isolated in the parliament and have practically no influence on the political course of Hungary. Victor Orban stressed that Hungary's political course, based on a recognition of the rights of national minorities and aimed at improving tolerance in   social life, remains unchanged.

Among the speeches of other European politicans, the most emotional was the speech of German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle. The leader of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that a revision of the history of the Holocaust is inadmissible. Westerwelle also expressed an understanding of Israel's position, as Israel is under constant attack by terroristic groups. On behalf of the entire government of Germany, the minister stated that Germany's government guarantees the right of the Jewish community to observe its traditions and religious rites.

A special session of the Plenary Assembly was dedicated to interfaith dialogue, which included such notable participants as President of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest Péter Erdő, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine Yakov Dov Blaich and the President of Muhammadiya (the largest Muslim NGO in Indonesia), Prof. Dr. HM Din Syamsuddin. The latter requested that the World Jewish Congress help build more synagogues in Indonesia, as their absence is keenly felt.

A special place on the Plenary Assembly Agenda was reserved for the situation in the Near East. The Iranian nuclear profile was the most worrisome in this regard, as well as the changes taking place in the region as part of the so-called “Arabic Spring.” The speakers at the discussion put forward an initiative to introduce to the agenda of Near Eastern negotiations a regulation of the situation with Jewish refugees from Arabic countries, the number of which is comparable with the Arabian natives of Palestine, who are recognized as refugees by the global community.

A second question that interested the participants of the Assembly was the increasing popularity of radical right and neo-Nazi groups in a number of European countries, who use anti-Semitic elements in their propaganda.

The WJC Plenary Assembly re-elected the governing bodies of the WJC. Ronald Lauder has been re-elected as WJC President, Robert Singer (former World ORT Director) has been elected to Secretary General, and Vyacheslav (Moshe) Kantor (President of the European Jewish Congress) has been elected to Chairman of the Policy Council. As a result of changes to the WJC Charter and the election of the WJC governing bodies, the EAJC's position in the WJC has been considerable strengtehened. EAJC President Vadim Shulman and Vice President Mark Shabad have become a part of the WJC Governing Board. EAJC Secretary General, President of VAAD Russia and EAJC General Council Chairman, Chairman of VAAD Ukraine Josef Zisels have been approved as World Jewish Congress Vice Presidents. Additionally, representatives of small communities have become Vice Presidents for the first time, including leaders of Jewish communities of Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, which are a part of the EAJC, Gumran Batiashvili and Vladimir Kritzman.

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress President and Secretary General reported on the current activity and plans of the EAJC, the biggest continental subsector of the WJC. EAJC President Vadim Shulman phrased the two priority EAJC directions of activity: a strengthening of the weak and inconsiderable in number communities of the region and the attraction of youth to the current activities of the Congress.

EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov stressed the uniqueness of the communities that are a part of the EAJC, spread out over incredible distances, from New Zealand and the Phillipines to Slovenia and Macedonia. Continuing his report on EAJC activity, the Secretary General spoke in detail on the support of Israel and the lobbying of its interests in a dialogue with the governments of the countries in the EAJC region, on the work in forming an atmosphere of tolerance, peace, and concord in society, done with the support of many human rights organizations and national minorities, as well as on interfaith dialogue. Michael Chlenov called for the WJC to widen the scope of its dialogue to include contacts with representatives of Orthodox and Eastern Christian denominations, which have so far, excepting Greece, not been included into the WJC's work. At the same time, in the EAJC's regions  most of the Christian populace that surrounds the Jewish communities belong to Orthodox churches and denominations.

Reporting on the results of the EAJC's anti-Semitism monitoring program, the EAJC Secretary General stressed that the situation differs in many ways from the current situation in Western countries. Against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the manifestations of aggressive anti-Semitism in the world at large, a reverse tendency is notable in the EAJC region.

A number of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress events were held as a part of the Budapest forum of Jewish leaders, including a session of the General Council, many of whose members are also delegates in the WJC Plenary Assembly, as well as a Conference for Young Leaders and Activists of the Jewish Communities of Eurasia.