Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-15-Speech-3-014"
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"en.20060215.2.3-014"2
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".
Mr President, today the core message from Liberals and Democrats is to safeguard and defend freedom of speech, not only in Europe but also in Kabul and Tehran. It is totally unacceptable for violent protests, attacks on embassies, burnings of flags and boycotting of goods to replace dialogue. That we have seen examples of a European company boycotting Danish goods is unfortunate and not a sign of European solidarity.
Before I close in Danish, I just want to thank personally the President of the Commission, Mr Barroso, and my colleagues here in this Chamber for showing their solidarity.
Freedom of expression is a right, but not necessarily a duty. It is, however, a right that must be neither called into question nor compromised. If we begin to compromise our freedom of expression and, at the same time, suspend our right to subject all religions to critical analysis, the fundamental right to think and to express ourselves freely will be restricted.
We have all been shocked and saddened by the terrible circumstances of the last 14 days, and no one has been more shocked than me and my fellow Danes. However, Muslims should recognise that the global tensions have merely increased support for far-right, anti-immigration parties and have been abused by extremists in and outside Europe.
Europeans from all communities must now exercise personal responsibility to quell this rising tide of anger. We must not let extremists triumph at the expense of the moderate majority, and we must stand together in respect for Article 11 of the Treaty to condemn violence and intimidation against Member States. When the Danish flag and other European flags are burned, the EU should show solidarity, as we have seen today, and reject demands that governments should apologise on behalf of independent media ...
... especially since Section 77 of the Constitutional Act of Denmark clearly states: ‘Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing and in speech, subject to his being held responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced’.
It should also rebuff efforts by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League to seek a UN resolution, backed by possible sanctions, to ban attacks on religious beliefs. Such a move would contravene the constitutional basis of many liberal democracies and is an invitation to criminalise freedom of thought on a global scale.
Nobody is denying that Muslims have a right to feel offended by these drawings, just as Sikhs, Jews, Christians or believers of any sort have a right to take umbrage at the press. However, complaints must be handled through the appropriate legal channels. In a civilised society, offence can never be grounds for violence. In a secular, democratic society such as our own, freedom of the press must remain paramount, for it is this freedom that reinforces the principles of democracy and pluralism on which our Union is founded and which are universally acknowledged in international conventions. As such, all believers should stand up for those values, which ensure that anyone in Europe can practise their religion freely and openly, but also accept the right to be a non-believer.
This is not to say that freedom of the press should mean total freedom to cause offence. It is self-evident that, after 9/11 and the bombings in Madrid and London, greater care must be taken to ensure that relations between different communities remain as harmonious as possible. However, Liberals and Democrats are convinced that the current situation cannot be resolved by the ‘thought police’, but only through dialogue. From that perspective, we support the Alliance of Civilisations initiative proposed by the UN Secretary-General, and we applaud Justice Commissioner Frattini for organising a round table with media bosses, journalists and religious leaders. But, Mr Frattini, we draw the line at supporting your proposed code of conduct for the press, and we encourage Mr Solana to draw exactly the same line. That way lies greater distrust and mutual antagonism, because if communities cannot discuss issues on their cultural fault lines, how will they ever grow into acceptance?"@en1
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"Karin Riis-Jørgensen,"1
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