08/10/2009 Political Affairs and Democracy
, 08.10.2009 - Göran Lindblad (, EPP/CD), Chair of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Political Affairs Committee, today expressed his regret over the recent decision by President Obama to delay his meeting with the Dalai Lama, who is currently in the , until after his visit to in November.
“This clearly shows that economic interests prevail over human rights issues. The Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, fled into exile to India in 1959, after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet, and remains a symbol of combat for the respect of human rights and all other democratic values”, Mr Lindblad said.
The Dalai Lama arrived in on Monday and will stay in the capital for a week. The Tibetan spiritual leader has met all serving presidents since 1991.
“This regrettable decision of the current US President sends the wrong signal to all human rights activists all over the world, to the communist authorities of China, as well as to the international community as a whole”, Mr Lindblad concluded.