Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-15-Speech-4-149"

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"en.20030515.9.4-149"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is willing to support the Vietnamese people in progressing towards a society in which democracy and the rule of law are the core principles. Vietnam has already made significant advances along this path which deserve to be recognised. Nonetheless, there are still some very worrying developments. The ASEAN delegation attended the AIPO General Assembly in Hanoi last year and was prepared to visit the Vietnamese authorities and parliamentary colleagues for talks. However, when we were denied access to religious leaders, we felt we had no option but to cut short the visit. That is precisely the point that we want to highlight. There are worrying restrictions on human rights, especially religious freedom. The issue of religious freedom has nothing to do with how Vietnam conducts matters of state. It is wrong to seek to define the exercise of religious freedom as a threat to national security. We are not interfering in Vietnam's internal affairs. Vietnam can decide for itself which path it wants to take. That is not our responsibility. However, there are fundamental and universal rights which are binding for all of us, and they include the right to practise a religion. There are eminent representatives of Vietnam who, for example, have been here in Europe, in the European Union, and now occupy key positions in the Vietnamese parliament. They know exactly what our positions are. They know that we have no desire to interfere in Vietnam's domestic decisions, and they know that we are prepared to provide help. However, we must insist that political and religious prisoners are released. That is what this House demands."@en1
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3http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/spokenAs.ttl.gz

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