Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-19-Speech-3-460-000"
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"en.20110119.23.3-460-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I do not in any way want to undervalue the pressure on other religions, but the statistics speak for themselves: 75% of those threatened or killed for religious reasons are Christians, and around 100 million Christians around the world encounter persecution and violence because of their faith.
Recently, the situation has become particularly worrying in the Middle East, as we have heard here. Attacks on church services in Iraq, Egypt and Syria have claimed dozens of lives, including those of children. Elsewhere in the world, too, there are challenges. Dramatic economic growth in Asian countries conceals serious breaches of fundamental and human rights. In China, India and Vietnam, for example, freedom of religion is mainly only recognised on paper. We have to acknowledge that the EU and its Member States are closing their eyes to this, on account of trade relations, for example.
Nevertheless, if it wanted to, the EU could do so much more to improve the situation for Christians and to promote freedom of religion in the world, for example, by insisting on a freedom of religion clause in all agreements concluded with third countries. For that reason, I would like to ask you, Commissioner, whether the intention in future is to insist on such a clause and, furthermore, monitor its implementation.
Europe’s fainthearted attitude is partly due to the fact that we ourselves are losing our old values here. We want to isolate religion in a private space. This is reflected, for example, in the crucifix debate that took place in Italy. In the same way, Mrs Pack mentioned here the calendar published by the Commission, from which Christian religious holidays have been omitted entirely. Secularism is not the answer to these problems. The answer lies in a respect for those with views other than our own and for the convictions of others."@en1
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