"We are all minorities"

2.18.35pm GMT Thu 6th Jan 2005

At a conference yesterday (5th January) in the European Parliament on the integration of minority immigrant communities in the EU, Graham Watson, leader of ALDE outlined the importance and timeliness of the subject under discussion:

"For Liberals and Democrats, an acceptance of a multicultural society must lie at the heart of a policy of unity in diversity, of shared values beyond different individual beliefs. Underlying this must be active promotion of tolerance of all creeds and colours since ultimately we are all minorities of one sort or another," he added.

Antoine Duquesne, Belgian liberal democrat, and moderator of the third expert panel expressed his concerns thus: "Public anxiety and hostility expressed towards muslim minorities (in particular since the attacks of 9/11/01) and the recrudescence of antisemitism and xenophobia in Europe are both wake-up calls for European politicans to draw up urgently not only an immigration strategy but also an effective integration strategy."

Victoria Mohácsi, a Hungarian Roma member of the European Liberal Democrats also outlined her experience as commissioner responsible for integration in the Hungarian ministry of education where Roma minority were constantly discriminated against, especially in schools.

Copies of all interventions are available on the ALDE group website.