Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE), in writing. – (FI) Next week, we celebrate Holocaust Memorial Day, which, of course, will take us back to the past, and Auschwitz. It was a good thing that the resolution that we have adopted brings us to the present time, to consider the martyrs of today. The premise is that freedom of religion must apply to all religions.

Since we raise the issue separately of the persecution experienced by Christians, this does not mean that we are biased. It is because this, the largest group of those suffering persecution, is the one that tends to be the easiest to forget about in Europe. It is time to put this right, for we know that in the last century, more Christians died because of their faith than in the previous 1 900 years. Of those killed now because of their religion, 75% are Christians.

Open Doors International has listed the 10 countries where Christians encounter most violence in the world. They are North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mauritania, Laos and Uzbekistan, but the list goes on. Approximately 100 million Christians every day suffer violence because of their religion.

Obviously, something concrete must come from the resolution that we have adopted. The European External Action Service must show determination and address these failings surrounding freedom of religion. Our foreign policy agreements with third countries must include a clause on freedom of religion and reciprocity. From the perspective of the promotion of human rights, it is crucially important to speak about freedom of religion, because that is the human rights litmus test: freedom of speech and expression and freedom of association lie at the heart of human rights.