“Where poverty is, we have the biggest problem. Not where the wealth is”, EP Dr. Hannes Swoboda said at the first meeting of the Board on November 6, 2014 in Villach. The President of Denk.Raum.Fresach and former leader of the Social Democratic Party in the European Parliament, praised the initiative to found the Association for tolerance and integration in Europe and recorded the mission and tasks of the European Tolerance Talks. “It will not get better, but we will face more conflicts,” Swoboda said. “Immigration, refugees and exclusion are an ongoing issue. I have seen many positive projects, but also many negative examples of what happens when you do nothing and the distance grows and grows.” Therefore, it is so important and necessary to develop initiatives such as the European Tolerance Talks. They are an important forum for dialogue on overcoming fear, exclusion and xenophobia. Swoboda, most recently European Parliament responsible for the eastern and southeastern enlargement, working as EU rapporteur for Croatia, also with a focus on Turkey, human rights and tolerance, points out: “The internal migration in Europe is huge, and from the outside new conflicts are brought in which in turn prepare the ground for further conflicts. Since there is no other concept, dialogue shall overcome distance and exclusion.” According to Swoboda currently there is little commitment to intervene in the public debate. So those win, “who have no scruples”. This situation reinforces prejudices, that are already there. Therefore it is necessary to overcome the major deficiency in the policy and the discouragement to work for things that are not as popular. “We need more voices for tolerance and integration”, demands Swoboda. “In politics and in the media. Discussion and dialogue must already begin in kindergarden.”
