The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), Hon. Pedro Roque (Portugal), and PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi, participated at the International Conference “Diversity in Unity and Fundamental Freedoms for Christians and Muslims in the Middle East: A Conference for Parliamentary Dialogue” held in Beirut, Lebanon, on 3-4 April 2018. The Conference was organized by the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) and the Parliament of Lebanon in collaboration with the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union.
In his address, Hon. Roque stressed the role of religion in the process to solve problems that the Mediterranean region is facing, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The PAM President also underlined the need to respect the values of democracy, of the rule of law, human rights and social justice as the basis for a peaceful coexistence of people of different cultures and religions on both shores of the Mediterranean.
He pointed out the key role of religious leaders in stopping the polarization that is increasing in the region’s societies, in building trust and mutual understanding among the people, by promoting peaceful co-existence and tolerance as well as providing a counter-narrative to violent extremism.
At the end of the Conference, the participants adopted the Declaration on “Unity in diversity and basic freedom principles for Christians and Muslims in the Middle East: Parliamentary dialogue conference”.
On the margin of the Conference, the PAM delegation had a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, Hon. Andreas Michailidis, and other members of the IAO Secretariat, to discuss future cooperation between the two Assemblies. On that occasion, the PAM delegation was invited to participate to the next IAO Plenary Session, which will take place in Athens, Greece, on 25-27 June 2018.