European parliament official says Holy Qur'an burning is not freedom of speech

Reinhold Lopatka, Chair of the Co-ordination Mechanism between parliamentary organisations and unions and Vice-President of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), has affirmed his rejection of the burning and tearing of copies of the Holy Qur'an in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark by extremists, noting that these violations have nothing to do with freedom of speech.In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Lopatka said that such events are unacceptable, and he cannot condone such actions, and considered them exaggerated to a great extent, which have nothing to do with freedom of speech, given that they hurt the feelings of many people, when in fact the limit to freedom of speech is respecting the feelings of others.Lopatka stated that religions should work to establish peace, and everyone must respect religions, adding that Europe faces issues such as Islamophobia. He said it is imperative to ensure that there is mutual respect for all religions around the world, be it Christianity, Judaism or Islam, expressing his personal respect for all religions.The Chair of the Co-ordination Mechanism also praised Qatar's efforts in countering terrorism worldwide, and stressed that Qatar is one of the countries that greatly supports the fight against terrorism.