Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Grković, participated in the autumn meeting of the International Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO)

Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Grković, participated in the autumn meeting of the International Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), which was held from 14 to 18 November in Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

At the meeting of the body led by the IAO between the two sessions, the activities of the International Secretariat were discussed, and information was shared about future events organized by this multilateral parliamentary organization.

The welcoming address at the beginning of the meeting was given by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Mazen El Kadi, who emphasized that, in the context of the security challenges facing the Middle East, the meeting of the IAO International Secretariat in Amman sends a strong message about the need for interfaith dialogue, respect for diversity and unity.

IAO Secretary General Maximos Charakopoulos thanked for the hospitality and emphasized that this inter-parliamentary organization remains committed to overcoming disputes peacefully and supports every diplomatic attempt to resolve conflicts, which includes respect for individual and collective rights.

The President of the IAO General Assembly, Ioan Vulpescu, stressed that the role of religious leaders in dealing with conflicts and violence around the world must be considered. He added that one of the IAO's roles is to participate in creating channels of communication between parliamentary and religious bodies.

During the meeting, discussions focused on how to improve interreligious dialogue in all crisis areas and wherever human rights are violated through interparliamentary cooperation. In the part of the discussion that discussed the vulnerability of Orthodox peoples in the Balkans, the meeting participants were also addressed by Nenad Grković, a member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, who cited recent incidents and attacks on representatives of the Serbian national minority in Croatia as a negative example.

As part of the autumn meeting of the IAO International Secretariat in Amman, the volume of the book “Hagia Sophia - Churches of the Wisdom of God throughout the World” in Arabic was also presented.

The participants of the meeting were also received by His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal, and the activities concluded with a visit to the Holy Land, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where the delegations also met with His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem and All Palestine. (end)