Bishop Hilarion meets with the Director of the EC Directorate on Social Protection and Social Integration

On 7 March 2006, Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, met with Jerome Vignon, Director of the Directorate of the European Commission on Social Protection and Social Integration.

They discussed a wide circle of questions including the future of the European social model and prospects of regular dialogue among Churches and European Institutions under conditions of the ‘constitutional crisis’. They also discussed social integration of the Russian-speaking minorities in EU countries.

Bishop Hilarion informed the EC representative of the principle directions in work of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Brussels. J. Vignon noted that specific features of church canonic organization should be considered when carrying on a systematic dialogue between European institutions and religious communities.

The parties agreed to cooperate in the frameworks of the agenda on the EC legislative initiatives in social integration.

Press service
Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European International Institutions