Pharos, an Observatory on religious and cultural plurality
(B2) Former EU representative in Central Asia, Pierre Morel, has embarked on a new initiative. Set up an observatory of the pluralism of cultures and religions in Europe and offer a European analytical source to institutions in Brussels, Paris, London, Ankara, etc.
Composed of recognized researchers and journalists - in addition to P. Morel, there is Régis Debray or Jean-Claude Guillebaud, this new database will operate in the form of extensive country files and in three languages (French, English and Arabic). L'Pharos observatory, as it has been baptized, should begin its work on Syria, India, Cuba, Greece, as well as Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia and a few others. A communication on the observatory could take place, on the sidelines of the next Asia-Europe summit on November 5 and 6 in Vientiane (Laos), where José-Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy will go.
The observatory, which will be based in Paris, inevitably responds to a European vacuum in this area. Overall, those interested in the question could so far only rely on the annual report on religious freedom of the American State Department. A European alternative, which hopes to be able to cooperate quickly with the European External Action Service, as well as with the European delegations present in the rest of the world.
NB: Thanks to my colleague R. Wehrly from Le Temps (Switzerland) who reported this information
