France has been elected to succeed Argentina as president of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and is expected to assume the role in 2027, according to Europe and Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and the IHRA.
Barrot said on Tuesday that amid the wave of antisemitism that had swept the world since the October 7 Massacre, it was crucial to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.
“This work of remembrance is an act of resistance against the poison of anti-Jewish hatred,” Barrot said on X/Twitter.
Israel held the IHRA presidency in 2025, Argentina will assume the role in 2026, and France is set to follow in 2027, according to the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
The IHRA plenary was held in Jerusalem in mid-December, bringing together over 200 delegates from 35 member countries and seven observer states to discuss Holocaust remembrance, education, and research.
IHRA - for teaching and learning about the Holocaust
During the plenary, which ended on December 18, delegates adopted updated IHRA recommendations for teaching and learning about the Holocaust, which sought to develop knowledge of the Holocaust and promote critical thinking about the Nazi-led genocide to counter denial.
The Israeli presidency’s theme was “crossroads of generations,” exploring the responsibility of future generations to remember the Holocaust.
“Memory does not sustain itself. Remembrance is not automatic,” IHRA Chair Dani Dayan said in a statement. “It depends on conscious transmission, on future generations choosing to carry it forward. That insight speaks directly to the crossroads we have reached in Holocaust remembrance. We are no longer merely witnesses to living memory; we are becoming its custodians.”
In addition to determining French and Argentinian roles, delegates also decided to accept Cyprus as a “Liaison country.”