Hate

Hundreds of people have gathered at Syntagma Square in downtown Athens on Saturday afternoon, where several events were being held to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racism.

Recent football-related racism highlights European nations? tortured transition from ethnically relatively homogeneous to multicultural immigration societies amid a resurgence of entrenched racial, including anti-Semitic, attitudes that flourish in times of economic crisis and are not limited to Muslim communities.

A 57-year-old man who let off a racist rant at a Nigerian doctor working at Kozani?s general hospital on Thursday received a six-month suspended prison sentence after a court found him guilty of violating anti-racism laws.

An anti-racism bill, foreseeing stiffer penalties for individuals and political parties that engage in racism or incite racist violence, is to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday following months of delays amid objections to its provisions, chiefly by conservative lawmakers.

Group calls for an end to hate speech on internet

A campaign to raise awareness about hate speech on the internet reaches 15 cities in BiH.

The internet is a powerful tool that allows unprecedented opportunities for communicating and sharing information with friends, acquaintances and complete strangers. But with that power comes the ability for abuse.

The Merlinka festival, which has been organized in two other countries in the region since 2009, is running this year for the first time in Montenegro.

The festival is always held on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, which is marked all around the world.

Racially motivated attacks increased in Greece last year, according to the Racist Violence Recording Network, a collection of 30 nongovernmental organizations including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Deputy Interior Minister Leonidas Grigorakos on Wednesday removed from a draft immigration law a provision that foresaw the immediate expulsion from Greece of any migrants that made a false complaint to authorities.

The provision met with criticism from opposition parties.

SYRIZA MP Vassiliki Katrivanou called it “racist and dangerous.”

CACAK - The Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sport has started a campaign and initiated the creation of a national committee for battling hate speech on the Internet, and the central event of this project, entitled Using Tolerance and Dialogue against Hate Speech, was held in Cacak, central Serbia, on Tuesday.