DHARAMSHALA, February 21: The lasting solution for Tibet will be found when the Chinese government addresses the Tibetan people’s aspirations and resolve the issue through equitable negotiations, said His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a message to the 100th meeting of the European Parliament’s Tibet Group.
“The situation in Tibet at present is grim. Tibetan culture remains under threat. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities are relentless in their suppression of any sign of protest or dissent. And yet, it seems the greater the suppression, the stronger is the Tibetan spirit of resistance,” said the Tibetan spiritual leader added.
The event was jointly organised by the Offices of MEP Thomas Mann (Germany, EPP), the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the Office of Tibet in Brussels on Wednesday.
Mr Matteo Mecacci, President of International Campaign for Tibet launched ICT’s campaign ahead of the European Parliament’s elections, ‘2014 for Tibet’, and thanked the European Parliament and the Tibet Inter-group for its active support of the Tibetan cause.
“It is very important for Europeans to identify causes with which we can unite as European citizens, in which we can reassert not only the importance of Tibetan issue but also our own values, what we stand for,” said Mecacci.
Kalsang Gyaltsen, the Special Representative of the Dalai Lama in Europe also addressed the event.
“I am appealing to you personally and to the leaders of the European Parliament to ensure that the next legislative of the European Union continues with the long and honourable tradition of championing the peaceful and just cause of the Tibetan people by reconstituting a strong and vocal Tibet Intergroup,” said Gyaltsen.
The event was attended among others by Thomas Mann, Ryszard Czarnecki (Poland, ECR), Lidia Geringer De Oedenberg (Poland,S&D), Nathalie Griesbeck (France, ALDE), Eva Lichtenberger (Austria, Greens), Edward MacMillan-Scott (UK, ALDE) and Csaba Sogor (Romania, EPP).
