Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The president of Kosovo has banned the sale and distribution of antisemitic literature following a complaint from antisemitism experts, the website Jewish Business News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, President Hashim Thaci issued the directive after his Public Security Ministry was contacted by Ido Daniel, head of the Israeli Students Combating Anti-Semitism activism group and Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center who both expressed concern over the spread of radical ideologies in the region.

The complaint came after Daniel — who was invited to Kosovo for a conference held by the government and the European Cooperation Organization on combating racism and radicalization — found bookstores in the capital city of Pristina displaying books of Nazi propaganda. The overtly antisemitic writings included translations of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in Albanian, one of Kosovo’s official languages.

“How many people were exposed to this poison? It turns out that there is a whole industry of antisemitic literature translated into Albanian and other languages in the region as part of an organized campaign of incitement against Jews in the Balkans,” Daniel said.

“We are taking the information on such activities seriously,” Thaci responded. “Regardless, this incident is rare, and I can assure you that I directed authorities to immediately investigate this incident and take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of hatred in a flagrant violation of the constitution.”