Pashinyan called the U.S. the leading country for religious freedom

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the United States a model country in terms of ensuring religious freedom.

"The United States is a model and leading country in ensuring religious freedom for all religions. It is with this understanding that Armenia joined the International Alliance for Religious Freedom and Belief*, inspired by the United States in February 2020, during the first presidency of (Donald - ed.) Trump," Pashinyan said during the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC.

Democracy is impossible without religious freedom, he said, because "to be free means to be free in the perception of God and in the perception of religion."

"But, on the other hand, freedom means tolerance of the religious views of others, and one without the other can lead to religious fanaticism and extremism. To believe in God or not, how to believe and through which religion is a matter of personal faith and personal freedom," Pashinyan noted.

He added that religious freedom is a very important part of democracy in Armenia, and not only the Armenian Apostolic Church, but also other religious organizations and confessions operate freely in the country. In his opinion, religious tolerance is important for the stability of the South Caucasus region.

"Fortunately, despite political and ethnic differences, there is a good tradition of religious tolerance and respect in our region, and this makes lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus more realistic. We hope to turn our regional disputes into a regional dialog, and religious freedom is one of the tools that can make this a reality," Pashinyan said.

Reprinted from ria.ru