EU is not Islamophobic - Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- The European Union (EU) is not Islamophobic and the brazen act of certain extremists burning the Quran did not reflect the true picture of the bloc.

EU Ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas said the recent acts of the two Islamophobic extremists who burned the holy book were highly deplorable and the EU has made clear its position in not condoning such acts. 

“My message is, do not perceive Europe as Islamophobic,” he told Bernama at Wisma Bernama, here, Monday.

Earlier appearing on ‘The Nation’ programme on Bernama TV, Rokas stressed that those extremists’ actions did not reflect how Europe is and how Europe think.

“It does not reflect Europe's attitude especially towards the Muslim world,” he said when asked to comment on the issue. 

The ambassador also urged for the need to have dialogues between the West and the Muslim states including Malaysia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on this issue, in order to create better understanding among people of different faiths.

“We should not allow (such incidents) to happen again. We should not allow extremists to create image of Islamophobia.

“We need to unite and address deplorable acts by extremists around the world,” he said. 

On Friday, Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right party Stram Kurs (Hard Line) had burned a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Denmark, days after he burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden.

In another earlier provocation, Edwin Wagensveld, the leader of an Islamophobic group, Pegida, also burned the pages of the holy Quran in The Hague on Jan 22, drawing the wrath of Muslims worldwide.  

Malaysia also condemned in strongest term both Paludan and Wagensveld's vile act, and on Saturday, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the country will immediately issue one million copies of the Quran to be distributed around the world as a response to the “insane and impudent” act.

-- BERNAMA