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Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Mayor Jeanne Barseghian,

Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt,

Mufti Nedžad Grabus,

Dear friends,

It is an honour and a pleasure to be here today at this important event.

Strasbourg has a strong and historic Jewish heritage, going back over 1000 years.

And, in more recent years, a large growing Muslim population, and a mosque under construction that will be the largest in Europe.

Across our continent, both the Jewish and Islamic traditions have strongly shaped Europe – our history, culture and our societies at large.

We taste it in our food, we hear it in our music, and we see it in our art and architecture, throughout Europe, from north to south and from east to west.

And of course, the intellectual traditions of both faiths have shaped our thinking.

But, sadly, intolerance, antisemitism and islamophobia have played a devastating and shameful part in Europe’s history.

And regrettably today, they continue to do so.

Attacks that only seem to intensify, alongside the growing challenges facing Europe, our world and our democracies today.

And challenges are many.

Widening gaps between rich and poor.

Disinformation and foreign interference in electoral campaigns and government.

Polarisation driven by social media, including artificial intelligence, amplifying hate speech and provoking violence.

Corruption.

Restrictions on freedom of expression, academic freedom and media.

And a rise in undemocratic forces.

Just to mention a few.

We have seen it before, but with so much political and economic instability, people seek scapegoats — blaming the “other”.

Often minorities, migrants or those who belong to different religious groups — or indeed, all three.

And so, it is important that a group such as the Muslim Jewish Leadership Council, which I note marks its 10th anniversary later this year, is working together to unite religious groups and to remind Europeans of the importance of both Muslim and Jewish culture.

And it is great to have the City of Strasbourg and you, Madam Mayor, taking part in those efforts and help promote inclusive cities.

Such work is truly vital in ensuring our cities are inclusive and tolerant, and embracing diversity.

Dear friends,

The Council of Europe has long recognised interreligious dialogue as crucial to countering the challenges facing democracy and human rights today.

Indeed, the ability to practise our religion is a fundamental right — a human right.

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Respect and understanding of each other’s backgrounds, beliefs and cultural heritage is crucial.

It enables us to overcome our biases — conscious and unconscious — and to accept each other in all our difference and rich diversity – a mosaic that truly makes our continent strong and vital.

That is why the Council of Europe actively invites and encourages religious communities to engage, in an inter-religious dialogue that focuses on how we together can help strengthen and revitalise our democracies, help promote human rights and uphold rule of law.

This initiative already has a long experience and rich past:

• First through a series of seminars organised by our Commissioner for Human Rights in 2000 to 2006,

• then through annual Exchanges on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue initiated by the Committee of Ministers from 2008 to 2017.

And finally – through a new initiative four years ago, when we relaunched a dialogue among leaders of traditional religious faiths — but with a clear focus on the mandate of the Council of Europe.

By the way, our best legal minds – the Steering Committee for Human Rights, helped us prepare the ground, by elaborating a comprehensive compilation of the most relevant standards relating to the principles of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, alongside links to other human rights protected by the European Convention of Human Rights.

Thereafter we organised important interreligious roundtable discussions, initially supported by the Italian presidency of the Committee of Ministers.

To be followed by a second, in Berlin in 2024, supported by the CM Presidency of Liechtenstein.

These dialogues aimed to see how we, together, can safeguard democracy, but also raise greater awareness of diversity in European societies, and ultimately, peace.

And it led to their support to the so-called Strasbourg Principles for Inter-religious Dialogue within the Council of Europe.

A set of fundamental guidelines for interreligious dialogue that has formed the basis for future work of the Council of Europe in this area.

Dear friends,

When faiths come together and engage in interreligious dialogue, we can see the full effect of religion as a force for unity.

And as a force against antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and intolerance.

Let me at the end congratulate you on your work, and wish you an excellent conference throughout the day today.