EU''s Van Rompuy says no contradiction between Islam and democracy

Religion  5/30/2011 3:47:00 PM
Representatives from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim religions meet in Brussels (With photos) BRUSSELS, May 30 (KUNA) -- About twenty senior representatives from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim religions as well as from the Buddhist communities met in Brussels Monday at the invitation of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and co-chaired by Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the EU. They discussed effective ways to build a partnership for democracy and shared prosperity between Europe and its neighbourhood. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Van Rompuy said: "let us not forget history. It is on the march in North Africa and the Arab world." "These revolutions are not the work of fanatics or extremists. On the contrary they prove that there is no contradiction between Islam and Democracy, " he stressed. This was the seventh in a series of annual meetings launched by Barroso in 2005. This is the second time that the meeting takes place in the context of the Lisbon Treaty which foresees that the EU maintains an "open, transparent and regular dialogue" with religious communities in Europe. Read the rest of this article on: All KUNA