BRUSSELS (EJP)--- 80 members of the European Parliament have signed an “open letter” calling for an indefinite travel ban on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad within the European Union for his repeated statements denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be destroyed.

The letter, signed by the MEPs from all major political groups in the EU parliament, was submitted Thursday to the EU Austrian presidency and FIFA, the football world federation.

“We call upon the 25 EU members states and FIFA to declare the Iranian President ‘persona non grata ad personam’ within EU territory as longs as his positions on martyrdom, the Holocaust and the destruction of Israel and Iran’s uranium enrichment activities remain unchanged,” the letter says.

Some opposition

According to Parliament sources, a debate and draft resolution on this issue could not be introduced at a recent plenary session of the 732-member European Parliament because of the opposition of a majority of deputies, including MEPs from the Socialist and Christian Democrat main groups.

Thursday’s petition specifically asked the EU and FIFA to prevent Ahmadinejad from travelling to Germany later this month to watch his team play in the World Cup and ban him from travelling to any of the other 24 EU member states.

However, sources in Brussels said that the Iranian president “is backing off from coming to Germany.”

Iran is due to kick off its World Cup campaign against Mexico on 11 June in Nuremberg, the city famous for holding rallies in support of German dictator Adolf Hitler and then hosting the post-WWII war trials where Nazis were judged and convicted by an international court.

"This is a very strong signal that we do not want the Iranian president to come to Europe, now and later, for very clear reasons, his attacks on Israel, his denials concerning the Holocaust and human rights violations in Iran,” Jana Hybaskova, a Czech member of the European People’s Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament, said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.

“We want to show Iran that Europe is not as weak as it says,” Hybaskova added.

Related stories

MEPs Open Letter to EU leaders Iranian president may attend World Cup Ahmadinejad’s previous statements on Israel and the Holocaust

“Holocaust denial is not part of our European values,” she stressed.

She co-authored the letter with four other MEPs, British Charles Tannock (European People’s Party), Portuguese Paulo Casaca (European Socialists), Belgian Frederique Ries (Liberal) and Polish Ryszard Czarnecki (independent).

Long term situation

The MEP’s stressed that they are not seeking a short term solution. “We want the European Council, which will be meeting later this month, to deal with the issue like it dealt with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko,” Tannock said.

He was referring to the a recent declaration by the EU Council of foreign ministers which issued a travel ban on Belarus’ president following the March presidential election in this country which the EU considered rigged.

“I will do anything to stop Ahmadinejad’s neo-nazi policy,” Casaca said.

Hybaskova said that she received Wednesday a phone call from the Iranian embassy in Brussels informing her that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unlikely to go to Germany because “he was too busy with internal affairs.”

In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel published last Monday, Ahmadinejad, believed to be a football fan, declared about his purported venue at the World Cup: “My decision depends on a lot of different things. Whether I have time, whether I want to and some other things."

Despite the German government’s critics towards Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel and Holocaust denial rhetoric, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany’s Christian Democratic interior minister has said the government would not block such a visit by the Iranian president.

“As far as I am concerned, he is welcome to come to the World Cup. We have every intention of being good hosts,” Schaeuble said.

EJC praises MEPs initiative

The MEP’s initiative was praised by Pierre Besnainou, President of the European Jewish Congress (EJC).. “It’s very important for us European Jews to see that the EU is standing up to say : ‘this is not bearable’”, he said.

“It would not be bearable for us to see Ahmadinejad setting foot on European soil which is soaked with Jewish blood,” Besnainou stressed.