“Excessive Political Correctness” Prevents EU From Issuing Statement Condemning Attacks Against Christians

Baroness Ashton

This may be the worst case of political correctness I’ve ever seen. The EU’s Foreign Minister, Baroness Ashton, is under fire because she refuses to name the specific religious group, “Christians”,  who have been under attack in the Islamic world in a statement condemning the attacks, presumably in deference to Muslim sensibilities.

The UK Telegraph reports:

Italy accused Lady Ashton, the EU’s foreign minister, of ‘excessive’ political correctness. A meeting of EU foreign ministers failed to agree on a condemnation of sectarian attacks over the Christmas period that targeted Christians in Egypt and Iraq.

Talks ended angrily when Italy accused Lady Ashton, the EU’s foreign minister, of “excessive” political correctness because she refused to name any specific religious group as a victim of attacks.

Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, demanded an EU response on the persecution of Christians after a New Year suicide bombing at a Coptic church in northern Egypt in which 23 people were killed.

The Egyptian bombing followed attacks in Baghdad and fears, expressed by the Vatican, of persecution leading to a Christian exodus from the Middle East.

Mr Frattini, backed by France, said it [is] pointless to issue statements defending religious tolerance without any references to the specific minority, Christians, that was under attack.

“This position is an excess of secularism, which is damaging the credibility of Europe,” he said on Monday night. “The final text didn’t include any mention of Christians, as if we were talking of something else, so I asked the text to be withdrawn.”

***

“Those who thought the creation of a high representative would lead to a more unified and coherent EU foreign policy have been very disappointed with Ashton,” said a diplomat. “She cannot even finesse a statement from Christian Europe condemning attacks on Christians.”

Shameful.

On the bright side, at least some of the ministers are rejecting Ashton’s craven stance.

UPDATE:

This story reminded Gabe at AoSHQ of something:

I bring this up only because it echoes President Obama’s statement, wherein he had to make up fictitious Muslim victims because he couldn’t just admit that the New Years attacks were against Christians.

As I wrote then, it doesn’t fit within the warped worldview of leftists to admit that Christians are being murdered by members of the Religion of Peace^TM.

Good call.

Linked by Michelle Malkin, thanks!

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers