MEP and former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said Muslim countries did not experience Europe’s internal strife for pluralism. Religious pluralism was established in Europe after hundreds of years of violent disagreements and bloody wars and later it had to be the French Revolution which introduced the principles of equality.  This contrasts sharply with events in Muslim countries which did not undergo Europe’s upheavals for pluralism and equality, said Dr Sant when addressing a Conference entitled EUROPE: The Challenges and Opportunities of Intercultural Dialogue organised by the Faculty of Theology of the University of Malta at St Augustine’s convent in Rabat.

“It’s imperative that we retain a Europe of Nations. Failing to do so, the populist parties will thrive on the concerns of European citizens who don’t want to be treated like numbers in a mathematical formula”, said Dr Sant.

Dr Sant said that the scientific developments in Europe led its economy and its society to be guided by the principles of the free market, which today, are being treated like a machine whose success depends on the statistics achieved.   

A sizeable audience attended the conference, organised to coincoide with the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which was also addressed by Former EU Commissioner Tonio Borg and Prof Emmanuel Agius, Dean at the Faculty of Theology.