MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been appointed chairman of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, about a week after he announced his resignation as Middle East Quartet representative, The Guardian reports.
As its new chairman, Blair plans to push forward with legislative proposals giving greater power to judiciaries to prosecute hate speech and to make Holocaust denial illegal, The Guardian cites the former quartet envoy as saying in a Thursday article published by The Times.
The Middle East Quartet, comprising Russia, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, confirmed Blair’s resignation last week.
The Quartet, established in 2002, has been mediating Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Blair was appointed its official envoy in 2007, after resigning as the UK prime minister.
