CONFERENCE OF INGOs 7-9 April
Henk has sent his report in English, French, Dutch, German and Spanish. I can upload each report separately. Alternatively, you can read the report in your own language providing you are using an Android or similar or a laptop with 64 bytes+. I have just read the Spanish translation on my Android and it looks perfect. You need to click on https://en-re.eu/index.php/latest-news and then scroll down until you find the article you want.
Day 1
It's possible to travel by train from Paris to Strasbourg without having to change trains. You arrive right on time and there is time for a beautiful ecumenical celebration in the centre of the city. Everything is easy to follow. If you know the Gospel that has been read, you can fill in a lot of the details, even though everything is in French. It's strange that you can almost feel what it is about.
Then on the way to the Palais to obtain a photo badge for admission. But European bureaucracy is not easy. It will all come in time.
I can get in with a temporary badge. But then there is the matter of picking up our blind newcomer in the EN-RE delegation. The support for a blind person from Spain to here is actually very good. Both the airline and the SNCF offer personal assistance. But also at the religious Centre Saint Thomas, which is close to the European institutions and where Ricardo is staying. That too is (still) Europe. Ricardo Gayol Garcia, a Spaniard and an important man for the interests of the disabled. He immediately participates in the Social Charter Committee, but has some trouble with sleep attacks since he had to leave at 4 Madrid in the morning. Fernand Jehl, who personally guides him because of the French language, gives an impassioned speech in the Migrants and Undocumented Committee that is even greeted with applause.
I myself am allowed to participate in IRIC-dialogue, an interconvictional and interreligious committee that is trying to set up an official European committee that (as it stands now) only consists of white men dressed in black. That leaves one woman. It is a long process. The Council of Ministers must decide on such an institution, which, in our opinion, should be based on a completely different philosophy. There are, of course, many more religions than the Abrahamic ones. In The Hague alone, there are more than 40,000 Hindus. In the person of the nuncio (the Vatican is also represented in the Council of Ministers without the right to vote), the whole thing is agreed with us! But then again, here too we are dealing with religion-related stress. An often unspoken fear of everything related to religion. It doesn't matter, we have staying power and as a small organisation we contribute a lot. So the Marienburg Association will have to survive for a while, otherwise we will lose this unique position.
Day 2 8 April 2025
The ambassador to the Council of Europe for Ukraine arrives. This is followed by a testimony from Lyudmyla Husieinova, who was imprisoned in Russia. She tells of a long list of women who are serving long prison sentences for minimal offences. At a certain point it becomes almost too much to bear, but then Maksym Butkevych arrives. He is also a human rights defender. These are horrific stories and should convince us completely that we must support Ukraine with all possible means. Nevertheless, I venture to ask a critical question and point out that our security system has long since failed and that the concept of security must be rethought. But the mainstream in the room is in favour of simply continuing to arm ourselves. People refuse to consider other perspectives. I am in the minority, but as a man of the Church and Peace organisation which has been operating for 100 years, I protest. We do not yet know how we are going to vote on the recommendations that have been formulated, which are really only about punitive measures against Russia. All of this is justified, but this is not the way to achieve peace. Deaf ears. It does get me down.
Of course, there is even more going on in Europe, with Ukraine acting as a kind of focal point. A report is being made on the official trip of a CINGO delegation to North Macedonia. Corruption there has not decreased even one millimetre and they do not expect to make any progress. It seems that a lot of money is coming from Opus Dei to support right-wing movements and political parties, but the reporters are happy with some churches that openly support the LGBTQ movement. That is quite remarkable. Also that there is hardly any Russian influence. There is also talk of a special mission to the border areas with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine regarding the refugee issue. There is talk of instrumentalisation. This means that the situation of refugees is no longer being looked at individually. It is another term for abandoning them. It is thanks to Caritas Europa (Roman Catholic) that the trip to these critical areas could be organised at all. In Georgia, we seem to be dealing with a democracy that is fiercely contested. Critical NGOs are attacked by the regime and demonstrating young people are assaulted and arrested. I write for myself: ‘the death of democracy is slow, but very fast’. What a contradiction. Authoritarian regimes make decisions much more quickly, and we are warned that resistance is much more difficult in an authoritarian society than in a democratic one. We know this in theory, but in the Netherlands it is not yet a reality.
Blind Ricardo is doing wonderfully well with the assistance of the Spanish-speaking Begonia, head of the Pax Romana Delegation, he was able to follow along well and understood much more than yesterday. Because yesterday he was much too tired due to getting up so early. We have dinner together at the Jehl family's, where I am staying. We even sing now and then. The Veni Creator and the Kyrie from mass. That is the advantage of a classical Roman education. You know your church Latin. But then there is Ite Missa est.
Ricardo, Begonia, Fernand & Marie-Anne
Ricardo, Begonia, Fernand & Henk
Hard work stimulates good appetites
Day 3 9 April 2025
Yesterday was International Roma Day. It is good to remember that the sometimes professional begging in cities like Brussels, Paris and Strasbourg is really just the tip of the iceberg of the misery these people find themselves in. There are hardly any solutions. The first item on the agenda is the recommendations regarding Ukraine. We had agreed to abstain from voting to send a small signal that this is not enough, but the chairman proposes it as a consensus. I no longer oppose it. It's pointless. The recommendations are all necessary, of course, but I reckon they are mainly wishful thinking. Europe's role is currently marginal, but it may become more important in the aftermath of the war.
Ricardo and Begonia in the CINGO Meeting room
Not a word about Palestine. The Council of Europe is the institution in whose direction the recommendations have been formulated. More recommendations adopted by consensus on North Macedonia will follow. A report is made on a strategy to combat poverty. There is also a committee report on the rights of children and, very importantly, on migrants and undocumented persons. EN-RE is fully involved in this. Fernand Jehl, already mentioned, has been working on this a number of days a week. The chairman of the committee reporting on efforts in sports participation begins with the question of why, for example, the Netherlands wins so many medals. Is it the people, the facilities or the structure? All of this is aimed at a broader investigation into why some countries are so far behind in participation with a view to discrimination against women, for example. Of course, the Gender Equality Committee also reports. EN-RE also participates in this.
Then it is time to elect a new board of the OINGO service. This is the internal institute that provides financial facilities, among other things. I was pulled in strongly and I hesitated a lot, but I have now been appointed board member and vice president for three years. After all, I am not a financial genius at all, but I can chat and who knows, I might be able to bring in some more project money that way. Fortunately, there are strong financial people on the committee besides me. More committee reports will follow.
Henk giving his OINGO candidature details seen from my internet link
It is a jam-packed agenda. The Dutch in the large group have already organised two meetings with the Dutch ambassador to Europe, Tanja Gonggrijp, but now we have thought of inviting the Belgians and Luxembourgers as well. The Dutch embassy has even taken over the initiative for this meeting, which makes it easier for the Belgian and Luxembourg ambassadors to participate. Luxembourg is represented by a senior staff member, but the Belgian ambassador is also present. We only have an hour. It is a start to getting to know each other. It is a building block for CINGO to have more contact with the Council of Europe, now also from ‘ordinary’ representatives of NGOs. Next time we will approach it differently. We will call it the Benelux connection.
Back the next morning with an early field trip and via Paris back to The Hague. It literally runs like clockwork. Travelling via Germany is something we will no longer consider. We have all gotten quite stuck at one time or another.
Henk Baars, delegation leader of the European Network Church on the Move.