Cultural and religious differences a pretext for blatant violations of human rights

Yesterday the Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted, by a large majority, a resolution by Marietta Giannakou MEP on the EU's foreign policy in a world of cultural and religious differences.

“There is no doubt, this issue is very sensitive, but the logic of turning a blind eye, supposedly in the name of political correctness, proved to be the wrong response from our side. Tolerance, the condemnation of violence and freedom of belief are universal human values which the EU should actively promote abroad,” Marietta Giannakou said.

“The EU must take a clear position on the tectonic changes taking place lately and clearly define its position on the new reality, formed internationally. Cultural and religious differences have been repeatedly used as a pretext for blatant human rights violations worldwide and the EU should stick to its principles and make use of the full range of tools at its disposal when faced with human rights violations,” Giannakou underlined.