G. KATROUGALOS: Your Eminence, Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning to everybody.Before saying a few words to you, I would like to read the Prime Minister's opening address, who unfortunately, due to another outstanding obligation, is not with us today, despite the fact that he wanted so. Therefore, the Prime Minister sends the following opening address:“Your Eminence, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome the significant initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and especially of Deputy Minister Bolaris, in organising today's conference.In recent years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has upgraded its initiatives in the area of religious diplomacy, recognising the importance of the latter, both for Greek foreign policy as well as for the social model and universal values, which we must cultivate and promote in the 21st century.Together with the representatives of religions and dogmas in Greece, representatives of the Patriarchates, as well as specialists, both from the competent Ministries and the academic community, today a crucial dialogue is opening up for Greek society, which I believe will expand even further.Through our diplomacy, we must support the invaluable initiatives and the impact of the Patriarchates, and to link them to efforts that we make to support the Greek Diaspora, for the exercise of effective and sustainable cultural and educational diplomacy, for the resolution of international diplomatic disputes, which many times have deep historical roots, for tackling international challenges, such as the increase in refugee and migrant flows or the environmental degradation.We must promote dialogue between the various dogmas in our country and strengthen human rights and religious liberties. At the same time, we must support international, inter-Orthodox, inter-Christian, and interfaith dialogue, during a period when highlighting central, universal values is more important than ever.Indeed, especially in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, where the models of religious tolerance, pluralism, and peaceful co-existence are being tried or challenged, on which many societies have based themselves for decades, in part at least.Thus, in today's complex and fluid context of globalisation, religions and their formal organisations play a crucial role in shaping both the identity of a large percentage of citizens, as well as international relations and developments.Unfortunately, at times they convey or strengthen fear, introversion and entrenchment and hate, or invest in national or ethnic conflicts and historical differences.Nonetheless, by highlighting common humanitarian values, it has been proven that religions have the ability to encourage international dialogue and mutual respect among countries, socio-political groups, and regional organisations in favour of human rights, social justice and peaceful co-existence.The axis of their efforts needs to be interfaith communication and cooperation, and their purpose the elimination of religious fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and every other ideological misconstrual of the humanitarian message of every religion.Moreover, professions of faith do not exist solely as communities of worship. From the leading international religious leaders to the members of people's organisations, religious communities aid, and would be able to aid even further, in promoting diplomatic efforts to resolve regional conflicts or to overcome differences that pertain to national history and identity.Our country can and ought to assist in this effort, given the universal values that it has traditionally represented and ought to represent.And this was proven during the refugee crisis of 2015-2016, or through initiatives continuously taken for strengthening human rights and religious liberties in Greece.Greece also ought to play this role, provided that it is gradually becoming the most important pillar of peace, stability, and co-development in the region, and also given the significant support and footing it has on an international level, due to its strong and dynamic diaspora of the Greek Orthodox religious institutions and its role in global shipping and international culture.With these thoughts, I would like to wish every success the two-day conference.”Opening address by Minister of Foreign Affairs, G. Katrougalos.You know, the term religious diplomacy is relatively recent. During the classical period of European diplomacy in the 19th century, diplomacy and religion were considered differing and foreign concepts.The first one, religion, was based on absolute dogma and faith. On the contrary, diplomacy was considered to be flexible, based on the relevance of interests, the flexibility of argumentsIndeed, in the 19th century, which was the classical period of scientific reasoning, the point of view prevailed that religion would slowly be marginalised, would stop being a key factor in determining not only the behaviour of countries, but also of individuals.These predictions did not prove to be true. According to recent figures of the United Nations, more than 80% of citizens on a universal level claim to adhere to a religion, clearly with differing levels of faith. And on our continent, we continue to see a relative decline in religious faith in the West, but this cannot be considered to be a universal phenomenon under any circumstances.But it was mainly the toppling of the dual pole world, the clash between the Western world and the former socialist camp, which brought back the need for religious diplomacy, with greater intensity, to the foreground.For what reason? In the context, also, of a clash between the West, the Soviet Union and the other socialist camp, there was discussion about religion, but this was chiefly in the context of the criticism exercised by the Western world on the violation of human rights, including the right to religious worship, and this was the context of this rhetoric.On the contrary, in the context of the complex world that arose following the collapse of the socialist camp, the religious element proved in principle to be like a basic definition of identity, both individual and collective.As you know, Huntington already analyses the emerging system of international relations not on the basis simply of a clash of national or State interests, but in the context of a clash of differing cultural standards.I personally don’t adhere to this model. But it is undeniable that highlighting the religious element is pivotal in the criticism that is carried out by many sides against the Western view as to how global international diplomatic relations must be organised.In the model that certain people call Post-Western, that of new globalisation in other words, the elements of identity constitute a basic characteristic for the forging of the policy of many countries.And of course, they also determine the variable nature of conflict; often of unbalanced conflict, where we don't have states facing off, but rather we have radicalised groups many times, groups of terrorists which promote their ideology in an aggressive manner, placing this type of Western supremacy into question.The example of the Twin Towers was emblematic and marked, at the beginning of this millennium, the trend to which I am referring; and of course countries which have a State religion or which are trying to construct the identity of the State.Around religious beliefs, they promote even more strongly the religious characteristic, including in the exercise of their diplomacy. We chiefly see this in countries having Islam as the State religion. But we see it recently also in Russia, where religious faith is organising a whole system of ideological values, both within the country’s interior as well as abroad.Every year, Russia submits to the UN General Assembly a vote for the protection of traditional values, chiefly promoting as such those values which correspond to the Russian manner of interpreting Orthodoxy.And Russia’s foreign policy itself has created concepts, such as the “near abroad”, which take religious nature into account, in conjunction of course with other characteristics. In doing so Russian diplomacy defines the near abroad as the three countries which were Soviet States in the past - Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus - and this is why we see the recent religious developments in the Ukraine being of special political interest to this country.The issues of identity are also an important factor for the intensity of conflict, asymmetric threat in Europe as well as in the US. What do we see there? Members of religious communities, usually Muslim communities, mainly citizens of Western countries, second-generation citizens, exhibiting phenomena of radicalism and extremism.This, in my opinion, is the result of a different stance to that which I described to you earlier, and where the previous tendency is related to shaping national and State characteristics through the identity that the religious element defines in the countries.This intensity of characteristics of extremism on our continent, in my opinion, is due exclusively to a decline in the social methods of integration and social peace, which is again related to the weakening of the social state.This explains the fact that, though the parents of those children who take these extreme actions were integrated in the local societies, their children, who one would logically expect to enjoy greater integration than the previous generation, precisely because they belong to population groups that are marginalised, do not have access to the labour market - or feel, in any case, undervalued and marginalised, and exiled from the average social strata - proceed with these behaviours.In Greece, the historical importance of Orthodoxy in determining national identity and the Church's participation in the nation's struggle is well known. Also recently, in the great battle of the Resistance, the participation, especially of the secular clergy, was significant. And never in Greece did we have, precisely because of the unique characteristics of the Orthodox Church, the cultural clash, the so called Kulturkampf, that had developed in Europe in the 19th Century.The Greek State takes these characteristics into account, the combination in other words of the universality of the Greek Orthodox faith, the presence of the Patriarchates as historical beacons of culture in our region of the Near and Middle East. And we attempt to develop, taking into account this significant cultural and religious presence, tools for dialogue, interfaith dialogue, as sectors of the soft diplomacy we wish to promote.A characteristic example of these efforts for multilateral diplomacy is the initiative that was begun by former Minister Nikos Kotzias in organising a conference on interfaith dialogue, with special emphasis on the protection of minorities in the Middle East, minorities which, as you know, are chiefly Christian.We are going to continue in the same vein, attempting to be, as the Prime Minister also mentioned in his message, not simply a country which is a pillar of stability, but an exporter of stability; to be a country that is an example and a model in our wider region, in this triangle of instability, with Ukraine, Libya, and Syria as its vertices.And in this context, of our effort, I believe that the two-day conference which is beginning today will play an especially significant role. I would like to congratulate the Deputy Minister, Mr Bolaris, for its successful organisation, and to wish all of us good luck in its work.Thank you very much.
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