Leo van Doesburg

On the 27th of April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted, by 44 votes to 19, a report   on the protection of the "The protection of the rights of parents and children belonging to religious minorities" . The rapporteur for this report  was ECPM Member Valeriu Ghiletchi (MP, Moldova) . The report calls on Council of Europe (CoE) Member States to protect religious freedoms in each country and to respect the right of parents to raise their children according to their religious beliefs.

ECPM calls on EU member-states to respect the fundamental freedoms of conscience, faith and speech against the growing trend of imposed ideology. ECPM: ,,The EU Charter of fundamental rights should be respected by its governments”

Increasing international concern has been voiced throughout the last few years regarding the growing religious discrimination against Christians within EU borders and beyond. A few cases from the UK, however, have become the center of attention as their appeal against the UK government has reached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) . P lease find below an analysis about the increasing international concern for religious freedoms an d the growing in tolerance in Europe . This article is made by my colleage Eunice Vatran-Dugulescu

Four British Christians who claim they lost their jobs as a result of discrimination against their beliefs are taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). They include an airline worker stopped from wearing a cross and a counsellor who refused to deal with gay couples.  All four lost separate employment tribunals relating to their beliefs.Secular critics have said any ruling in favour of the group could "seriously undermine" UK equality law. A ruling is not expected from the ECtHR for several weeks.  The ECPM is concerned about these cases which involve British Airways check-in clerk Nadia Eweida, nurse Shirley Chaplin, relationship counsellor Gary McFarlane and registrar Lilian Ladele. (Please find the article from the BBC Please read here the whole article and more information about the cases , find the article from the BBC here )

The Observatory's Report on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in the Year 2011 was released on March 19th, 2012. This report portrays the most important developments with regard to freedom of religion, the most striking cases of intolerance and discrimination throughout Europe – and what individuals and institutions say about it. The report includes several statistics as well as analysis of the meaning of freedom of religion in the European context. Dr. Gudrun Kugler, director of the Observatory, explains: „Studies suggest that 85% of all hate crimes with an anti-religion background in Europe are directed against Christians. It is high time for the public debate to respond to this reality! We also notice professional restrictions for Christians: a restrictive application of freedom of conscience leads to professions such as magistrates, doctors, nurses and midwives as well as pharmacists slowly closing for Christians. Teachers and parents get ...