Addressing MPs, Sprem said that the awareness of the horrors of World War II and of the responsibility to future generations was built into the foundations of today's European Union.

"By accepting EU membership we have once again confirmed our commitment, incorporated in our Constitution, to anti-fascism and our wish to build a society of peace, freedom, democracy, tolerance and equality," Sprem said.

He called the Holocaust the most horrible crime in the history of humankind, recalling that 67 years ago the concentration camp Auschwitz had been liberated, which marked the end of torture, humiliation, killing and suffering for the survivors.

For humankind, it was only the beginning of a process of coming to terms with incomprehensible dimensions of inhumanity and evil devised by the human mind and carried out by human hands, he said.

He added that the Nazi and fascist ideologies had been defeated, but that the millions of people systematically killed in camps throughout WWII remained an unhealed wound of Europe's history.

The victims of the Holocaust bear witness to how short the road is from contempt to discrimination to hate and crime, he said.

The victims are a reminder to all of us and to future generations to make sure that no one is ever again persecuted because of their ethnicity, religion, political persuasion or sexual orientation, he said.

"The more so as we still encounter attempts to downplay or even totally negate Nazi and fascist crimes."

The Parliament Speaker called on MPs to visit an exhibition in the parliament building of posters dedicated to the topic of the Holocaust. The posters were made by 16 students of design who received awards for their works at an international competition.