Monday

2nd Oct 2023

'Secular' EU told of Christian suffering in Middle East

  • Religious leaders discussed integration and migration in the Commission (Photo: European Commission)

European religious leaders expressed concern over the Christian communities' plight in the Middle East, as representatives of all European religions met with EU commissioners in Brussels on Tuesday (29 November).

"They [Christians] need support, material support, concrete support and a safe place," Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairman of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said at a press conference.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He recalled his trip to nothern Iraq two years ago, when Isis, a jihadist group, took over large swaths of territory where Christians have lived for thousands of years.

Those areas were recently liberated in the Iraqi army’s offensive to free the city of Mosul.

Answering a journalist's question, Bedford-Strohm said Christians in the region wanted to return to their homes and wanted protection.

"Many people told me we will leave if this happens again, they need support by the European Commission and other institutions," Bedford-Strohm said.

Arie Folger, the chief rabbi of Vienna, said he was "very concerned the plight of Christians in certain parts of the Middle East has not been considered a matter serious enough for European countries, for Western countries in general, to get involved and react."

He added that extremism in the region, for instance in Iraq, also makes Muslims suffer.

Archbishop Polycarpus Augin Aydin of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch in the Netherlands warned that without diversity there cannot be development in the region.

The meeting of the religious leaders and the EU commission focused on migration and on ”putting European values into action".

Frans Timmermans, the first vice-president of the EU executive, said they had talked about migration and "the way we can make a success of the integration of newcomers, sharing values, respecting differences, fostering mutual understanding, without looking for assimilation."

According to estimates, after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, only 500,000 Christians remained, mostly in the northern part of the country, out of the original population of 1.4 million. Hundreds of thousands have left since Isis took over the territory more than two years ago.

They are spread across refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Some have made their way to Europe.

"Without help from all these countries, we cannot do anything. We don't trust the government in Baghdad," Nicodemos Daoud Matti Sharaf, the Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Mosul told Euobserver in Erbil in early November.

He also fled Mosul in 2014, when Isis took over the town.

“We hope for an internationally protected Christian autonomous region,” he added, saying that what happened to the Christian community in northern Iraq under Isis amounted to genocide.

The archbishop of Mosul had little hope that Europe would come to the rescue of his community, however. "Europe is not Christian. They said so themselves. It is secular”, he said.

Opinion

The human rights aspects of Grenoble's 'burkini' controversy

Sooner or later, the European Court of Human Rights will have a final say on whether Grenoble is allowed to permit the 'burkini'. Its judgment, like the one permitting the outlawing of full-face veils, risks influencing policymaking across the continent.

Analysis

Slovak's 'illiberal' Fico victory boosts Orbán, but faces checks

Fico has the potential to shift Slovakia from the West and jeopardise the EU unity in its stance against Russia's Ukraine war. His victory could also have a domino effect in central Europe and empower of other far-right, populist movements.

Opinion

Why EU Commission dumped Google's favourite consultant

This should be a wake-up call to ensure consultancy firms with a vested interest are permanently excluded from public tenders. The close relationship between the EU's competition authority and economic consultants poses a serious risk to its independence.

Latest News

  1. EU ministers go to Kyiv to downplay fears on US, Slovak aid
  2. Hoekstra faces tough questioning to be EU Green chief
  3. Frontex shared personal data of NGO staff with Europol six times
  4. Why EU Commission dumped Google's favourite consultant
  5. Slovak's 'illiberal' Fico victory boosts Orbán, but faces checks
  6. European Political Community and key media vote This WEEK
  7. Is the ECB sabotaging Europe's Green Deal?
  8. The realists vs idealists Brussels battle on Ukraine's EU accession

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us