On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, Mrs. Ursula Plassnik, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Austria, met with His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar in Istanbul, Turkey.

At the conclusion of their meeting, Plassnik issued the following statement:

“It was important for me, from the very beginning in coming to Turkey, to meet also His All Holiness. I have met him on a number of occasions before. He has been individually, as a person, and also from his function contributing tirelessly to the dialogue of religions, to a better understanding, to a world where people can live without fears, they can live their religion, their faith, or live even without faith. I think this is my interpretation of the freedom of religion that has to be possible in our European societies. It is part of the standards we have in our European value system and value basis. This is also part of what we are negotiating with other countries who want to become members of the European Union.
For me it was also a gesture of personal appreciation and respect for His All Holiness also with regard to his many fort activities concerning the environment. He last informed me during his visit in Vienna -this was before the Conference in Greenland. I would have like to get closer information on the results. I did, unfortunately, not have the time to follow up all the interesting subject matters of interest to both of us that could have discussed but I am confident that the link will continue, that we will continue to support him and his work, and that we’ll meet again and continue to work together”.