The right balance

The European Union exports its products and services worldwide. It’s in her own economic interests, and it creates new jobs. At the same time, the EU promotes and defends human rights – notably religious freedom – at global level. For this reason the adoption of the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief” on the part of the Council of EU ministers past June 24 is to be viewed as a major step forward. Its practical utility will become evident in the future, with the resurgence of anti-religious persecution and acts of violence, such as the recent terror attack in Pakistan. Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, issued a long interview in the September issue of the “Revue des Deux Mondes” (“Review on two worlds”). To defend his political approach – sometimes described as pragmatic – he concluded his interview to the celebrated, most ancient scholarly French publication with an anthropological statement: “people are made in such a way so as to have interests and values. If interests are overlooked to the benefit of values, I’m afraid that values risk being lost”. For the ex Belgian Prime Minister, due to end his second mandate at the end of 2014, the European idea consists in a balance between interests and values. From this perspective it’s legitimate to defend European business interests worldwide while penetrating foreign markets to create jobs in Europe, and if prone to, also show solidarity to those hit by natural disasters, civil wars and persecution. Some two weeks ago the news of the suicide bombing in which two Pakistani Talibans attacked Christian faithful outside a church in Peshawar came as a shock. The following day Catherine Ashton, High Representative for the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security expressed her profound condolences to the families of the 82 victims and the over 120 casualties, and asked the government of Pakistan to take stronger action to ensure the protection of all its citizens, regardless of their religions and belief, and to bring to justice all groups and individuals responsible for inciting and carrying out acts of terror. In this way the Commissioner complied with the new “Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Religion and Belief” adopted by the Council of EU ministers on June 24. The document defines freedom of religion and belief, listing the key areas of intervention for the European Union. The instruments provided so far are confined to diplomatic initiatives and observation missions. At present, there are no sanctions against governments which severely overlook their responsibilities in the protection of the members of minority religions. This feature in fact characterizes the new European Guidelines, which makes it different from the “law on religious freedom” adopted in the U.S. Any serious analysis will show that policies for the defence of religious freedom worldwide have become a priority. It will suffice to mention a scientific research (click here) on the state of religious freedom of Christians in the world, jointly compiled by Catholic and Protestant Churches in Germany past July 1st.This sober and concise document should be published at European level and translated in various languages. It brings evidence that Christians are not the sole victims of religious freedom in the world, and nonetheless “since 2007 Christians have been the victims of retaliation in 111 world Countries. In 95 Countries public authorities have promoted restrictions against Christians, while 77 Countries registered hostilities on the part of individuals and groups”.Given this situation it is to be hoped that the new Guidelines may soon become a useful tool to strengthen the External Action service of the EU. There should be no hesitation to improve them if they should not deliver the expected results. And as relates to Pakistan it will be necessary to strike the right balance between interests and values.