Beyond all frontiers” “

“The controversy on the caricatures [of the prophet Mohamed] involves questions that are of particular interest to the European Union, since they are linked to the constructive co-existence between religions”, commented HANS WINKLER , Austrian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 15 February, he reaffirmed the position of the EU concerning the question of the cartoons of Mohamed and the violent reactions in various Moslem countries. The EP in fact conducted a debate on the question “Right to freedom of expression and respect for religious faith”, leading to a Resolution. RESPECTING RIGHTS, NO TO VIOLENCE. Winkler “deplored” the violence registered in various parts of the world and the “attacks on the Danish embassies and those of other States”. “A climate of calm, dialogue and mutual respect needs to be recreated”, said the representative of the current Austrian Presidency of the European Council. But Winkler added: “Every fundamental right, including that of expression, is a cornerstone of our democracies. It cannot be placed in question, but needs to be exercised with a sense of responsibility”. According to JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO, President of the European Commission, “the cartoons on the prophet Mohamed have wounded the feelings of millions of Muslims. We must underline our profound respect for Islamic civilization. We deplore, on the other hand, every form of violent reaction. Every attack on an EU country is an attack on the Union as a whole”. Barroso then explained: “If the freedom of the press is non-negotiable, so too is that of religion”. FORUM FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN CULTURES. Speaking on the same question, HANS-GERT POETTERING, German MEP and head of the European People’s Party group, made some practical proposals, including that of “entrusting the analysis of schoolbooks to an international commission”, to assess how they express themselves on matters of freedom of expression and respect for religions. In Poettering’s view, we need to “support the Barcelona process, and turn the Euro-Mediterranean Conference into a forum for dialogue between cultures”. Danish Liberal Democrat KARIN RIIS-JØRGENSEN expressed the hope that “freedom of expression be safeguarded everywhere, not just in Europe, but also in Teheran or Kabul”. “Violence and boycotts are unacceptable – she continued – and it is the responsibility of us all to calm the situation. Liberal democracies must support the process of pacification, but censorship must not be permitted”. “I understand – Riis-Jørgensen remarked – the Muslims who felt offended by the cartoons published in the press; but every form of protest must be expressed in conformity with the law”. “WE ARE A TOLERANT COUNTRY”. “It was dramatic to see people killed, flags burned, and hear of boycotts imposed against the goods and firms of one country, thus placing people’s jobs at risk”, said POUL NYRUP RASMUSSEN, now Socialist MEP for Denmark, but for long Danish Prime Minister, in his intervention in the debate. He was greeted with the warmest applause by MEPs. “Ours is a tolerant country”, he declared. “Historically we have campaigned for the freedom of every nation. For this reason we ask that the violence cease today. At the same time we deplore, as the government of my country has already done, the caricatures that may have offended the feelings of the Muslim world. They are not an expression of the Danish people”. And Rasmussen went on: “The time has come to unify our forces in a respectful dialogue; to involve all peoples, all religions, beyond all frontiers. In a globalized world there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. We need to go forward together towards a world of peace, founded on tolerance. We need to marginalise those who act through violence”. PLANETARY CIVIC SOCIETY. DANIEL COHN-BENDIT, German MEP and head of the Greens in the EP, firmly rejected those who would like to impose “by law” limits on press freedom. “The sense of how far you can go must emerge from society itself”. In his view, “religious faiths must be respected, but they can also be the object of satire in conformity with the principle of freedom”. FRANCIS WURTZ, French MEP and leader of the unified Left group, explained: “Freedom of expression cannot be placed in doubt but, at the same time, insults cannot be accepted, still less justified”. “No region is at the centre of the world; we all act under the eyes of humanity as a whole. We need to make an effort to live in a kind of planetary civic society, in which the freedom of each is exercised in respect for everyone”. BRIAN CROWLEY, Irish MEP and member of the right wing group Europe of Nations, cited a judge of the US Supreme Court “according to whom freedom of expression is not an absolute right”. Crowley continued: “No one in this chamber approves the violence that has erupted in the Middle East; yet we have unfortunately failed to cite all those demonstrations that have taken place in a peaceful manner”.