ADDRESS BY MR VAN DER LINDEN,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

“DIALOGUE OF CULTURES AND INTER-FAITH COOPERATION”

(Nizhniy Novgorod, 7-8 September 2006)

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Human values, tolerance and mutual understanding are the very principles, that lie at the heart of the Council of Europe’s activities.

After the end of the cold war, it was assumed that these principles would universally prevail to form the basis of a new world order.

However, the beginning of the 21st century has been overshadowed by the spectre of a new confrontation, driven by religious and cultural differences.

We live in a world where globalization has very quickly brought down barriers to communication and has undermined traditional ways of life and where diverse cultures and different religious are now in closer contact with one another than ever before.

Such closeness can be a source of enrichment, but it can also be a source of friction born out of ignorance and capable of being used for political purposes by extremists.

In order to overcome this ignorance, fight extremism and strengthen mutual understanding, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue must be at the top of the political agenda in all our member states.

Unfortunately, it is still an issue which receives far too little attention from politicians.

I therefore congratulate the Russian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers for taking the initiative of holding this conference on one of the most important issues of our times.

It is highly appropriate that this event takes place in the Russian Federation which is home to many peoples of different cultures, languages and religions and forms, very probably, the richest cultural, spiritual and ethnical mosaic among all European countries.

For the Council of Europe, it is important to take into account Russia’s experience in inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue; just as it is important for Russia to study the experience of other European nations.

I have been to your beautiful country five times since the beginning of my mandate as President of the Parliamentary Assembly in January 2005.

I have said on many occasions that Russia is part of Europe and that cultural contacts and exchanges, as well as contacts between religions, play an indispensable part in building our strategic partnership.

Therefore, the objective of this conference for me is two-fold:

First, to provide us with new ideas and concepts for developing the Council of Europe’s potential to promote inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, both within Europe and beyond its borders.

Second, to strengthen cultural and religious dialogue between Russia and the rest of Europe as one of the pillars of our partnership.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Council of Europe was founded to defend and promote our common fundamental human values.

These values reflect the values of the main monotheistic religions, which have marked European spiritual and cultural identity.

In each of these religions, we find a strong appeal for tolerance and mutual respect towards other people, including those with differing beliefs or non-believers.

None of these religions preaches violence.

Extremism and fundamentalism are distorted or perverted interpretations of religion.

They divert religion from its humanistic path to make it an instrument of violent political struggle.

A few days ago, we remembered the second anniversary of the Beslan massacre.

Allow me, once again, to express my deepest sorrow for the victims, many of them children, and convey my most sincere condolences to the families.

No terrorist attack can be justified by reference to religion.

It is our duty towards the victims to use the power of religion to prevent any such terrorist acts in the future.

Dear colleagues,

The political and legal action of the Council of Europe must be reinforced by cooperation with churches and other confessional organisations.

Churches and other confessional organisations, through their moral and ethical commitment and the values they uphold, are active players in civil society and valid partners in our democratic societies.

We must work together for peace, social justice and long term stability, thus under-cutting the root causes of terrorism.

I am a strong supporter of principle of separation of Church and State, where each acts within its own responsibilities and does not interfere in the another’s business.

But there is absolutely no reason why churches and other confessional organisations should not have an official status with the Council of Europe similar to that which we have granted to non-governmental organisations, but taking into account Churches’ specific conditions.

In this respect, we can take inspiration from the Treaty of the European Union establishing a Constitution for Europe, which has stressed the role of churches and religious organisations in contributing to the process of European integration and the need for granting them an official status in recognition of their important contribution, as has already been done for non-confessional organisations, such as non-governmental organisations, trade unions, employer’s organisations etc.

It goes without saying that respect by the state for freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the right to practice faith in association with others, to educate children in faith, to take social initiatives and to own property, constitutes the necessary prerequisite for this cooperation and dialogue.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe brings together national parliamentarians from 46 member states representing the wide political, social, geographical as well as cultural and religious diversity of Europe.

It is, therefore, an ideal and natural forum for inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue.

I have offered the prestigious tribune of the Assembly to dignitaries of different religions to promote tolerance and mutual understanding.

I hope very much that the heads of the main European religions will accept my invitation to address the Parliamentary Assembly in the near future.

Last year, the Assembly held an exchange of views with Professor Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Islamic Conference.

This year, we received in Strasbourg Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Erdogan, to discuss ways of addressing the challenge of how our fundamental values should apply in the case of controversial events such as the Danish cartoons.

We fully supports the Alliance of Civilisations initiative, co-chaired by Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain, trying to bring rapprochement and co-existence of different cultures and religions and overcome all forms of fanaticism and ignorance that breed conflicts and extremism.

We will pursue this policy of inviting high-level personalities.

However, my ambition is that we move beyond these exchanges, which are extremely useful but remain irregular, towards establishing a permanent framework for pan-European meetings with representatives of different religions, as the Assembly had already proposed in the past.

The concrete fields of our cooperation should cover respect for fundamental human values, family values, children's rights, social cohesion, fighting social segregation between religious, ethnic and racial groups, encouraging integration in our societies, combating AIDS.

I wish, in particular, to stress the need to fight together against poverty and exclusion.

To live in dignity is the most fundamental right of each human being, and social exclusion is in clear contradiction of this right.

All of us - churches, politicians, international organisations - must fight against the scourge of poverty and exclusion, which also contribute to the spread of extremism.

Thousands die of hunger every day, including children, a terrible reminder of our failure to ensure decent living for millions of people.

Charity and solidarity must, therefore, guide the common action of states, churches and international organisation for human dignity.

We also need to concentrate on education as the key to combating ignorance and stereotypes.

In the cultural field, we must reaffirm the cultural vocation of the Council of Europe and fully exploit the potential of the Council of Europe’s European Cultural Convention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have come to Nizhniy Novgorod to express our conviction that inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue is the only way of ensuring long-term peace and stability in Europe and throughout the world.

The Conference has only just begun, but I think that we will all agree with this general statement.

Our task is now, during these next two days, to work out concrete ways of instituting this dialogue.

I very much hope that tomorrow, when presenting the conclusions of this conference, I will be able to propose to you the right solutions.

Thank you very much for your attention.