The next Council of Ministers in Brussels will be devoted to the issue of religious freedom. Europe has fallen behind and should use its representations throughout the world to organise a country-by-country monitoring and prevention network wherever potential problems exist for religious freedom. Only in this way will concrete results be achieved.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has for some time been conducting a personal campaign for the respect of religious freedom. He is convinced that respect for this fundamental human right is more strategic than ever to international security and peaceful co-existence.
Minister Frattini, after the attack on the Coptic Christians it almost seems as though the circle is closing around the Mediterranean, the cradle of Christianity.
“Europe has a vital role to play, one that Italy has been calling for it to perform. Let me remind you of our direct action in Pakistan and Iraq, where worrying situations had arisen. The best approach for Europe is to foster inter-faith dialogue, which the Pope also supports, to prevent radicalisation from taking hold in countries where Christians have always played a role in society. But we also need to prevent violence, in the hope that in addition to the usual appeals we also see concrete facts”.
However, it doesn’t seem that national governments are all that interested in protecting religious minorities.
“If I can talk about my direct experience, I believe that in Pakistan my speech at the University of Islamabad helped open up a debate on the law against blasphemy. In Iraq, some commitments suggested to the government have already been undertaken, such as a team of Christian police officers to monitor the areas at risk for minorities. In Egypt, President Mubarak has said that Muslims and Copts are all Egyptians, and some Egyptians of the Muslim faith have said they are ready to act as a shield for Christians. The signals are there, it’s Europe that has fallen behind: if it takes action we’ll see results that have thus far failed to materialise”.
Europe’s absence, above all in economic investment on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, was noted by analysts with respect to the “bread riots” in Algeria and Tunisia too.
“In effect, the Euro-Mediterranean project didn’t achieve concrete results. The initiative was launched by France three years ago with something of a fanfare, but the proposed meeting in Barcelona was never even scheduled. But that’s not the only problem. Europe and the more developed countries have for too long failed to speak out about the global speculation on food prices. Once again, a reminder: Italy’s priority at the last G20 in Korea was the need to denounce group speculation. If the price of rice and bread can rise by as much as 50% in the space of a week, that’s clearly the result of speculation. It’s just like oil. The G20 has not taken preventive action, beyond its declarations, and we thus have a situation where two countries in the front line against terrorism now see their people taking to the streets in desperation”.
Their governments may well be in the front line against terrorism, but they hit hard.
“Action to prevent speculation must go hand-in-hand with support for governments combating extremism and with action to prevent violence against individuals”.
In your view, how will the situation develop?
“I believe that governments will manage to keep the situation under control, I hope without further violence against civilians. But that won’t be enough to tackle the strategic problem of speculation. France holds the G20 Presidency this year and has an opportunity to resolve the food question. Algeria has brought prices down by lowering taxes, but that’s a stopgap measure. We need to understand how prices can fluctuate in this way.
At the G20 we suggested that a preventive alarm mechanism should be established, just like the one created for the financial sector after the Lehman Brothers collapse. This would be triggered when anything suspicious was happening. The anti-speculation mechanism was taken up and discussed at the FAO meeting in Rome, but our suggestion wasn’t implemented. But it really does need to be put into effect, following the OPEC model.
The most serious issue concerns European investment in Africa to kick-start development and prevent trafficking in human beings. In terms of development cooperation, I have only half the amount to invest that my predecessors had. People don’t understand that this money is also an investment to prevent flows of desperate people arriving on our shores”.
The FAO is an agency of the United Nations. And there has been talk for some time now about reforming the UN. What’s Italy’s position?
“We’ve managed to link up a broad group of countries, about 70, and we’re working, with the African group in particular, to achieve a reform that does not stop at the Security Council. The Council needs to be made more representative: a single seat for Europe is needed and at least one seat for Africa, which has none at present.
Then there’s the problem of the General Assembly and how well it functions. For example, on the question of religious freedom, a resolution proposed by Italy against all forms of intolerance was approved unanimously. But did anyone notice?”
To compensate, the Foreign Ministry has just completed its reorganisation and has also introduced “economic diplomacy”. What does that entail?
“We’ve reduced the number of Directorates General and revised their remits. We’ve convinced the network of embassies to collaborate in supporting Italy’s image by offering their services in support of ‘system Italy’. We need to foster a perception that behind each Italian entrepreneur stands the country’s entire institutional weight, including in disputes. The results are arriving, with exports up 17% in 2010”.