Today is #HumanRightsDay but should be each & every day
#HumanRights aren't incidental to foreign policy but its very heart. Failure to respect them offers a reliable prediction of aggressive behaviour abroad.
Exchanging human rights for supposed stability is a fool's game.
1/6

Today should be the day of a solemn commitment by democratic & liberal governments to defend them.
This means firmly supporting the opposition to dictatorial regimes and helping them in a concrete way.
No false pretexts.
#Syria
#Egypt
#Russia
#China
#Belarus
#KSA
#Turkey...
2/6

This is one of the areas in which the Transatlantic Alliance is most fruitful: the @JoeBiden administration, the #EuropeanUnion & other democracies must join forces.
For several years now, I've been advocating an alliance of democracies. Let's make it a reality.
#LiberalsUnited
3

This also has a concrete implication: we need to point out the realities as they are, especially when it comes to #crimesagainsthumanity, #warcrimes and #genocide, including and even more so when it comes to the great powers ( #Russia, #China in particular).
4/6

To remain silent is to contribute to letting these crimes fall into the indifference of public opinion.
Governments must speak out. It's also their duty to alert public opinion & it's the guarantee of a more coherent foreign policy.
The role of parliaments too.
#HumanRightsDay
5

Democratic governments must be exemplary. Not to do so would be to play into the hands of enemy propaganda, too happy to confuse the mindset between democracy and dictatorship in order to put the crimes of the latter into perspective.
Let's not allow #relativism to triumph.
6/6