Athens, Greece (ANTARA) - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin called on the Hellenic Parliament to collaborate to strengthen tolerance and respect for followers of different religions amid the inconducive global situation.

Amin made the call for interfaith tolerance during his meeting with First Vice-President of the Hellenic Parliament Ioannis Ioshf Plakiotakis in Athens on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Vice President Amin has been scheduled to meet Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II.

According to Vice President Amin, Indonesia and Greece need to continue efforts to promote interfaith tolerance and be good role models of how to maintain interfaith unity amid the unconducive global situation.

"The global situation is unconducive. Several parts of the world witness cases of religious intolerance and discrimination and acts of destroying houses of worship," he remarked.

At the meeting, Amin also highlighted the fact that as a Muslim-majority country, Indonesia has shown that Muslims can live in peaceful co-existence with followers of other religions.

The values of tolerance and respect for followers of different religions are also embedded in Greece, he remarked.

Due to the shared values, Indonesia and Greece can continue to work together to contribute to efforts to create a peaceful and harmonious world, Amin remarked.

In addition to interfaith-related issues, he also called on Greece to support Indonesia for dealing with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) during his meeting with Plakiotakis.

According to Amin, Indonesia needs to get support from the Hellenic Parliament to handle trade barriers that restrict its products from entering the EU market.

To this end, at the meeting, he highlighted the importance of a constructive approach to end the European Union's discriminative policies on Indonesia's palm oil products as part of the country's strategic commodities, Amin affirmed.

Vice President Amin also underlined the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation on economy, trade, and investment since Indonesia and Greece are facing a "declining trend" in trade.

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Translator: Indra AP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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