Spiritual and ethical values in Europe
An initiative of the Romanian Chairmanship of the OSCE has brought the issue of spiritual and ethical values as determining factors for European peace, security and stability into the spotlight. During an informal meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on 2 April, eminent speakers, representing religious bodies and research institutes, addressed this topic from their individual point of views.
A meeting organized by the Romanian OSCE Chairmanship focused on spiritual and ethical values as determining factors for European security.Spiritual dimensions of Europe
Given that the debate on security and stability in the European context mostly revolves around political, military, juridical and economic aspects, the OSCE Romanian Chairmanship invited the Permanent Council delegations to participate in a panel discussion about the spiritual dimension of Europe and the role of the OSCE in this context.
Most panel speakers agreed with the Chairmanship's introductory statement that inter-religious dialogue needed to be intensified and spiritual and ethical values should be further included in the debate about European security.
Region of tensions
"We find ourselves, unfortunately, living in a region characterized by strong conflicts which are incompatible with the spirit of building a new Europe one can very often identify, inter alia, religious tensions which can be between distinct religious cultures or of distinct denominations within the same religion," said Ambassador Liviu Bota, Chairman on the OSCE Permanent Council.
"European peace and stability is inconceivable without a realistic consideration and recognition of such tensions, without openness to tolerance, and intensifying the inter-religious and inter-denominational dialog", he said.
Development of Europe and role for OSCE
One of the theories brought up several times in the panel discussion was Samuel Huntington's model of a "clash of civilizations", which tried to find an explanation for the upsurge of conflicts after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Several panel speakers also discussed the evolution of a second European "enlightenment", and the new dynamics of a drastically increased flow of population and enhanced communications, which had torn down conventional borders between communities and their values.
Fundamental OSCE documents refer to the issue of tolerance and non-discrimination, including Chapter VII of the Helsinki Final Act, the 1989 Vienna Declaration, and the Charter for European Security signed in Istanbul in November 1999.