Brussels, 2-5 March 2026. Participation of the IAO Secretary General in the Conference of the EPP Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue on the implementation of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty

From 2 to 5 March 2026, the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), member of the Hellenic Parliament, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, accompanied by the IAO Advisor, Dr. Kostas Mygdalis, traveled to Brussels to participate in the European People’s Party (EPP) Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Workshop on “Revisiting the dialogue between the European Union and religions (Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty) in the light of the Communiqués of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)”. The event took place at the European Parliament premises in Brussels. Members of Parliaments – Members of the IAO from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Moldova and Hungary participated at the event.

The head of the IAO noted in his presentation during the Conference “is taking place at a particularly critical moment for Europe and the historical experiment of the EU. This is because the rapid global upheavals are overturning the certainties that were previously certain. Military conflicts of enormous scale, both in terms of the military means used and in terms of the participation of the states involved, highlight an international landscape of sui generis world war. Without a doubt, the role of Europe in this new environment is not what we would expect (…).

Unfortunately, as one of the brightest figures of Ecumenical Orthodoxy, the late Archbishop of Albania Anastasios, pointed out, “Europe made a terrible mistake. It snubbed, undermined Christianity, created a vacuum of faith. And a Europe without faith, I don’t know if it will endure.” The incomplete, in our opinion, dialogue on the Future of Europe, in which there was no mention of Europe’s Christian roots and values, simply does not justify Anastasios and those of us who insist on reminding ourselves of the dangers that lurk from Europe’s departure from its basic pillars”.

Maximos Charakopoulos pointed out that “the absence of a solid ideological coherence in the European space negatively affected the position of Europe, which was found unprepared by the aggression of its competitors. The cracks were caused at the most inopportune moment, as events are moving at speed. Thus, at the present stage and in conditions of alarm and general mobilization against the great challenges, which aim at the emancipation of Europe in the new emerging multipolar world, the problem of the new European identity arises. What will be, in other words, the constituent elements of the formation of the European of the future, who, without abandoning his national origins, will simultaneously feel like a European citizen, and as such will be distinguished in the global village. Here too, the traditions of Christianity, in all its manifestations, such as Orthodoxy, Catholicism and the Reformed Churches, can and must contribute to the value arsenal of Europe. A process that cannot be considered retrograde, as it offers the moral framework that the cynically realistic practice of international relations lacks today. Because respect for the freedom of man and nations, the superiority of moral values over material ones, the importance of a moral stance in politics emanate from the core of the Christian tradition. And these are values that a world that is slipping into the narrowest sense of serving selfish interests needs.”

The Conference was also attended by the co-chairs of the EPP Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue, MEPs Željana Zovko (Croatia) and Vangelis Meimarakis, the Romanian MEP Loránt Vincze, the President of the Commission of the Bishop’s Conferences in the EU (COMECE), Bishop Mariano Crociata, the Metropolitan of Larissa and Tyrnavos Ieronymos, the Advisor for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Sarah Markiewicz, the IAO Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis and the Director of the Centre for European Studies Robert Shuman, a representative of the Together for Europe, Jeff Fountain.

The IAO Advisor, Dr. Kostas Mygdalis, in his speech, focused on the need to follow up on the IPU initiatives and to strengthen through these initiatives the implementation of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty through the authentic, regular and open dialogue of parliamentary and religious institutions.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the head of the IAO held a meeting with the co-chair of the EPP Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue, Croatian MEP, Ms. Željana Zovko.

He also had a meeting with the Austrian MEP Mr. Lukas Mandl, while he visited, at the invitation of the Bishop of Tanagra, Apostolos, the headquarters of the representation office of the Church of Greece in the EU.