• by Emma Bonino
• Wednesday, May 18, 2011
• Inter Press Service

From Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Europe is being swept by social and political changes so massive that they are calling into question its fundamental principles. Diversity, which has been a positive constant throughout our history, is now considered a threat. The signs are plain to see: a propagation of intolerance and fanaticism, growing support for populist and xenophobic parties, an ever more massive presence of immigrants without status or rights, "parallel" communities that do not interact with the rest of society, the repression of individual freedoms, and democracies in crisis.

Given this alarming panorama I accepted last July the invitation of the General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Thorborn Jagland, to join a selected Group of Eminent Persons presided over by German foreign minister Joschka Fischer with the mandate of preparing a report on how to combine liberty and diversity -two concepts central to the European identity- in the 21st century. The report, released on May 11, proposes an alternative to this wave of populism and tries to show a way forward for a Europe that is stronger and more sure of itself and that integrates diversity instead of rejecting it.

We are asking the Council of Europe and the European Union to work together on a common immigration policy and at the same time to reach out to our neighbours in the Near and Middle East and North Africa to offer them a real possibility to meaningfully participate in the institutions and conventions of Europe. e a better place. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

(*) Emma Bonino, Vice president of the Italian Senate, is a leader of the Radical Party and a member of the Group of Eminent Persons of the Council of Europe.

// NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES //

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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