EU und Freiheit der Religion oder Weltanschauung: Eine neue Momentum

Ján Figeľ: Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, verehrte Gäste, liebe Freunde, Es ist mir eine groβe Ehre und Freude hier Heute zu sprechen. Heute, in einer Zeit vielfacher Krisen besteht mehr als jemals zuvor in der Geschichte der EU die Gefahrt, dass Europa zerbricht an nationalen Egoismen, an Fragen der Migration, der Sicherheit, der Religion, der Werte. Wenn es ein Wort gibt, das wir bis zur Erschöpfung wiederholen müssen, dann lautet es Dialog. Wir sind aufgefordert, eine Kultur des Dialogs zu fördern. Die Kultur des Dialogs impliziert einen echten Lernprozess, aber Dialog ohne Freiheit und Wahrheit ist wirklich unmöglich.

Ladies and Gentlemen,In the midst of current multilayer crisis – we see compounded migration crisis, security crisis with crisis of our values, the dialogue is the space where we can find an answer. It requires not uniformity, but a unity that can harmonise even divergent views. We should recall that the roots of the term religion are in latin religare, which means „to unite together“. It would then be a great error, even contradiction, to use the freedom of dialogue to create disunity; it would be a great mistake to use religion itself for a division of our people.

But freedom is more than a concept of liberty. It is also rooted in moral values and human rights. This is what Locke meant when he contrasted liberty, the freedom to do what we ought, with licence, the freedom to do what we want. I believe that the moral obligation to do what is right is the starting point for both reflection and action in the field of freedom of religion or belief.

Within this light, the Wir schaffen dass, was a moral statement meaming that we would stand firm behind our principles and values. Within international law, the UN principle of responsibility to protect marks a global political commitment endorsed by all United Nations member states to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The EU, Germany and other actors also endorsed this principle. So, in a nutshell, this is my conceptual definition of what I wish to do as a first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union. I wish actively promote dialogue, enhance our responsibility and capacity to face adequately critical internal and external situation influenced notably by the Middle East crisis.

Ladies and Gentlemen,In terms of my personal experience, you must remember that I come from the other side of the Iron Curtain. I know what it is to have no freedom of religion at all and I know what detrimental this can be, not only for individuals; lives, but also for society as a whole. After 1989 for me as a Christian Democrat religious freedom was at heart of my work. As Slovakia;s Deputy Prime Minister and EU Commissioner responsible for Education andYouth, I have worked for years to promote intercultural dialogue and to help those in need, including political prisoners in Iran, Belarus and Cuba – one of these became my „adoptive“ son – and we met after his release from prison.

So there are some heart-warming human stories of hope, but let’s make it clear; today, we face a critical situation in many countries, mainly in the Middle East. In February, this was stressed in the European Parliament resolution on the systematic mass murder of religious minorities by the so-called ‘ISIS/Daesh’ in which Parliament called for the creation of the post of a permanent Special Representative for religious freedom outside the EU, a post of which I am honored to be the first holder. More euzeitung.de