The European Union pursues freedom of religion or belief and strongly opposes religious intolerance. In this vein, the EU presents this year a resolution at the Human Rights Council to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief with a focus on efforts that States should step up in order to implement commitments previously undertaken at UN human rights fora.
At the same time, the EU organised several side events at the Council to raise attention to this issue. The presence of EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom and religion or belief outside the EU, Jan Figel, underlined the EU's commitment to guaranteeing the freedom of religion or belief worldwide.
