1 / 1

Dear colleagues,

I would like first to thank the rapporteurs for what is an excellent text, in terms of political considerations and also from an academic point of view. Education and culture are powerful tools to prevent radicalisation and empower civil society to build democratic citizenship. At the same time, education and culture are a powerful source of intellectual renewal and growth, enabling us to acquire knowledge, a critical mind, a broader understanding of the world around us and the ability to see it from different perspectives. I have a concern – a concern amplified by both reports – that we lack an adequate understanding of the impact of education and culture on societal changes.

Educational policies generally focus on providing professional skills and knowledge that are targeted on economic needs, while personal development, which is an important tool for societal well-being, has been neglected over recent decades in Europe. Economically driven political discourse, education and cultural policies should be reviewed to meet the increasing complexity of modern challenges. Regrettably, culture and education were among the first sectors to which many European governments made cuts in public funding recently.

As our British colleague rightly mentioned, investment in culture and education must have the same priority as the economy, security and all other areas that are crucial for Europe. However, the situation differs in many European countries and the generalisations that the rapporteurs have made efforts to make are, to some extent, relative. The rapporteurs mention the dangers of indoctrination in education and culture in certain circumstances. That is something we have seen in our history, in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, where cultural and educational indoctrination served the political agendas and goals of particular governments. That is what we see today in Azerbaijan. Listen to what our colleague Rafael Huseynov has just said. His accusation that Armenians are laying claim to Azerbaijan’s so-called cultural heritage is proof of the fact that cultural indoctrination is serving political agendas. The other reports deal with Diaspora communities. The integration of Diaspora communities and migrants represents a big challenge for Europe today.

Education and culture offer systematic frameworks to ensure the integration of all groups with differing identities. Diaspora organisations should of course receive public funds from states, and Sweden comes here as a model country for how Diaspora organisations can receive public funds. On the other hand, Diaspora organisations and minorities should respect social cohesion and the concept of living together in the countries in which they live. Unfortunately, on 9 April this year, one of the leaders of a Turkish community organisation, Barabaros Leylan, gave a speech in a square in Stockholm in which he used the slogan “Death to Armenians”, which led to the resignation of the Minister for Urban Development in Sweden. It was a dangerous attempt at radicalisation and to use Diaspora organisations for political influence outside their countries of origin.