Dalai Lama: “I am one of the admirers of the spirit of the European Union”

The 14th Dalai Lama visited the European Parliament on Thursday 15 September to meet President Martin Schulz and discuss with members of the foreign affairs committee. Upon his fifth visit to the Parliament, the Dalai Lama expressed his admiration for the spirit of the European Union because it worked for the common interest of the people. “I think this spirit of the European Union eventually should spread in Africa and further in the world,“ he added.

“We are all same human beings and we have to work together,” said the Dalai Lama and called for compassion, love, forgiveness, tolerance, inner peace and self-discipline, instead of emphasising differences among people leading to religious or nationalist conflicts.

After his exchange with the Tibetan spiritual leader,  Schulz said: “We discussed at length about global affairs and the human rights situation in the world. I deeply thank the Dalai Lama for this frank, open, spiritually enriching and wide-ranging discussion.”

Welcoming the Dalai Lama, foreign affairs committee chair Elmar Brok, a German member of the EPP group, told him: “We believe you are a great religious leader at a time of war and violence. A message of peace and compassion is what we want to hear. These are values we can all endorse.”

Compliments of the European Parliament