BRUSSELS — Fear of rising anti-Semitism in Europe has prompted nearly a third of European Jews to consider emigration because they do not feel safe in their home country, according to a detailed survey of Jewish perceptions released Friday by an EU agency that monitors discrimination and other violations of basic rights.
The survey, carried out by the bloc’s Fundamental Rights Agency, focused on eight countries that account for more than 90 percent of Europe’s Jewish population and found that “while member states have made sustained efforts to combat anti-Semitism, the problem is still widespread.”
The Vienna-based agency, in a lengthy report on its findings, did not reach any conclusions about the cause of a perception among European Jews of rising bias.
But the results of its survey suggest that prejudices traditionally associated with far-right nationalist political groups like those that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II have now spread to other segments of society and are increasingly driven by conflict in the Middle East rather than homegrown bigotry.
One-third of respondents said they considered statements critical of Israel as anti-Semitic.
“It paints a clear picture of an issue in Europe today that we need to address more firmly and take seriously,” said Morten Kjaerum, the Danish director of the Fundamental Rights Agency, an independent organization funded by the European Union.
He said he was particularly struck that 29 percent of those surveyed said they had considered emigrating because of security considerations.
“That is a clear indication of an issue we need to address,” he said in a telephone interview.
The survey gathered information from nearly 6,000 Jews living in France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Britain, and Latvia.
The data was collected online by self-selecting respondents, but Kjaerum said the process nonetheless provided a “fairly representative” sampling of views.