The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) submitted a conclusion to the Commission for Ethics and Procedures of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, in which it assessed the public statements of MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis about the Jewish community and recognized them as hate speech.

On May 8 and 9, 2023, MP R. Žemaitaitis published posts of negative content on the social network Facebook, which contained anti-Semitic expressions, insults and remarks that disparage the Jewish community. The MP compared the Jewish community to "animals" and used antisemitic rhymes. In an interview with the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, Remigijus Žemaitaitis called the Jewish nation a nation of barbarians and collectively accused the Jewish community of being responsible for the policies implemented by the State of Israel. On June 14 and 15, 2023, R. Žemaitaitis published more antisemitic posts on his Facebook account, calling the Jewish people a "sub-species" and demanding that they be held collectively responsible for the deportations, repressions and genocide of the Lithuanian nation carried out by the Soviets.

The conclusion emphasized that forms of antisemitism include any negative expression towards Jews, from individual hatred to violent persecution of this group or its individual members. The European Court of Human Rights had earlier stated that incitement to hatred does not necessarily require an incitement to commit a certain violent or other criminal act. Therefore, the statements of R. Žemaitaitis violated the dignity and security of the Jewish community and incited hatred against them.

Such statements have a generally negative impact: it affects not only a certain group of individuals, but also society as a whole by fostering an atmosphere of insecurity and hostile moods. In 2021, 2,256 persons of Jewish ethnicity lived in Lithuania, therefore such public statements by a member of the Seimas, who has a wide audience, may cause negative attitudes towards the Jewish community living in Lithuania, and the false statements made by the MP may cause discriminatory consequences. Historical events lead to the understanding that even verbal attacks can be extremely dangerous.

Attention is also drawn to the fact that in each case, when considering the limits of freedom of expression and their restrictions, the ECtHR evaluates the personal background of the author of the speech in addition to the context and content of the speech. Regarding the responsibility of politicians, the ECtHR has clearly stated that freedom of expression is important for everyone, but it is especially important for elected representatives of the public: they represent their constituents and defend their interests. The ECtHR decision, adopted in May, established that individuals can be responsible not only for their own comments on social networks, but also for those present on their social media accounts that were posted by others. If politicians allow hate speech to be expressed, they may face criminal liability. R. Žemaitaitis is a representative elected to the Parliament to represent all citizens of Lithuania, therefore his statements should be evaluated extremely strictly as all MPs carry the duty to refrain from hateful and harmful expressions.

Reacting to the statements of MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, HRMI recognized them as dangerous, insulting, humiliating and belittling the Jewish community, and defined the expressions he used as hate speech and concluded that their public nature could cause negative consequences for the Jewish minority and the general society of Lithuania.

Antisemitic moods are still prevalent in Eastern Europe today. A recent survey by Anti-Defamation League showed that one out of every four residents in European countries harboured antisemitic attitudes, and the highest level of antisemitic attitudes remain in Eastern Europe. However, a significant drop of antisemitism was recorded in Ukraine (46% to 29%), Poland (48% to 35%), Hungary (42% to 37%) and Russia (31% to 26%). The decline in Ukraine can be explained by the popularity of the Jewish President, Volodymyr Zelensky. The lowest level of antisemitic attitudes was recorded in Western Europe: in France (17%), Germany (12%), the United Kingdom (10%) and the Netherlands (6%).