|
STATEMENT MADE BY THE GREEK DELEGATION IN EXERCISE OF ITS RIGHT OF
REPLY
1999 OSCE Supplementary
Human Dimension Meeting on Freedom of Religion in Vienna
22 March
This is in response to the statement made
by the Greek Helsinki Monitor, which has also circulated a written
report prepared jointly with the Minority Rights Group-Greece.
As a general remark, I would say that when
it comes to freedom of religion Greece has a very good record, and the statement I am
responding to is a clear testimony to that fact. Indeed, two NGOs based in Greece have
subjected the Greek Government to the strictest scrutiny with regard to the freedom of
religion –and I want to stress in no uncertain terms that we, the Government of Greece,
welcome that scrutiny and we consider it indispensable in a truly functioning democracy-
and the cases of complaint that they have come up with, documented in considerable detail,
hardly amount to suppression of –or even deviation from- freedom of religion in my
country.
Indeed I believe that any country
represented in this room, if subjected to the same scrutiny, would see itself faced with a
report much more voluminous than the one produced by the said NGOs about Greece. Yes,
there have been cases that can be seen as police harassment, but they are without
consequence. There has been the embarrassing handling of the case of Mr. Radovic, which,
in addition to being isolated, certainly does not constitute a case of violation of the
freedom of religion of anybody involved. There are also cases of conflict arising from
peculiar circumstances or misunderstandings, conflicts that have been resolved, some out
of court, others in court, including the European Court of Human Rights, the judgments of
which Greece always abides by.
I cannot claim that no problems pertaining
to the freedom of religion exist in Greece. There can be no end to the process of
enlarging and enriching freedom, any freedom, including that of religion. In taking up
this challenge, the Greek Government has made considerable and indisputable progress. And,
of course, we recognize that much more is to be done. In measuring the progress made we
should not lose sight of the context in which we operate, which in our case is the fact
that some 95% of the population of Greece profess to be Greek Orthodox, and the fact that
through the centuries, due to peculiar historical circumstances, the Greek Orthodox faith
has largely been identified with the Greek nationality. But I think the most fundamental
and most unmistakable, therefore the most reliable, yardstick with which to measure
freedom of religion is whether a group of people who profess a community of religious
beliefs can practice their faith. And in Greece, as I said this morning, there is
currently not one such group whose application to establish a place of worship has been
rejected or is still pending.
As to the Muslim community in Greek Thrace,
which was referred to also by the speaker who spoke on behalf of the organization calling
itself “Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe”, since the arguments have been
recounted again and again in this forum in Warsaw, I would limit myself here to mentioning
some figures: the flourishing Muslim community is currently exercising its freedom of
religion in some 294 mosques, serviced by some 315 religious functionaries.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. |