On February 27, the International Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom (Aidlr) organized a seminar entitled “Challenges for the freedom of conscience and religion in Europe, and security”. The event was patronized by the European Parliament, with participation by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Popular European Party (PPE); it was a meaningful event for the Secretary General of the AIDLR, Liviu Olteanu. The seminar was held at the “Altiero Spinelli” pavilion of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Three Objectives
The main objective was to emphasize focus on the importance of religious freedom in favor of peace and security and to promote the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for peace, justice and strong institutions as well as a global partnership.
The second objective was to launch the new AIDLR Book, entitled 'Religious freedom's influence on peace and security'.
The third objective was to work on the program of the II Global Summit, planned for November 2018, which will focus on the protection of religious minorities and refugees by fostering human rights practices, peace and security.
Numerous presentations and prestigious speakers are lined up, among whom Maria Jose Falcon Y Tella, director of the Institute for Human Rights; Elisabeta Kitanovic, Executive Secretary for the Federation of European Churches; Hans Noot, from Human Rights without Borders; Jose Miguel Serrano, professor of philosophy of rights at Complutense University in Madrid; Raphael Warolin, of thd European External Action Service (EEAS) Global Human Right.
Representing Italy at the convention was the director of the magazine Coscienza e Libertà, Davide Romano. He presented a discourse entitled “Is the European Union truly promoting human rights and freedom of conscience, in its internal and external actions, according to the 2013 guidelines? Some possible answers”.
In the various interventions presented in the four morning panels, the convention debate brought out multiple reasons for concern. Most concerns were especially related to the theme of the progressive weakening of guaranteed protection of human rights and religious liberty, caused by the intensification of politics regarding spiritual and social security as raised by various governments in more European countries.
As reported straight from Dr. Raphael Warolin, of EEAS, The European Union has confirmed the commitment of the High Representative for Foreign Policy in the implementation of policies for the defense and promotion of human rights, with approximately forty bilateral comparison tables activated in recent years with several developing countries.
