MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The Council for Interethnic Relations has condemned the public act where a Quran was burned near a mosque in Sweden and calls on the world’s parliaments and inter-parliamentary organizations to take measures to protect the beliefs of the religious community, Russian Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev told TASS.

"The Council for Interethnic Relations under the Russian Federation Council <...> calls on parliaments of foreign states and international parliamentary organizations to publicly condemn the actions of radicals and their supporters, as well as to take measures to protect the beliefs of the religious community and their right to religious freedom," the document said.

It also pointed out that the Council for Interethnic Relations "strongly condemns the act of vandalism." "What’s even more outrageous is that it was committed with the consent of the state and city authorities. This is not the first such heinous act in the Kingdom of Sweden that insulted the beliefs of the religious community and trampled on their human rights and dignity. This time it happened on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha," the document pointed out.

According to the Russian senators, "the barbarity of so-called civilized countries has no place in a multipolar world order that corresponds to the interests of the global majority, whose values and holy places are now opposed by the West." "The acts of burning sacred books and religious shrines provoke the righteous anger of believers. God cannot be mocked, but attempts to insult the beliefs of the religious community violate their right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and fuel inter-religious strife. It is clear that the anti-Muslim position of the Swedish authorities is shared by the EU and is in line with so-called ‘European values’. Western civilization thus poses yet another challenge to the entire Muslim world, which reacts with indignation to blasphemy against its shrine," the document noted.

The burning of the Quran took place during a police-authorized demonstration in Stockholm’s Medborgarplatsen Square on Wednesday. Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant, tore pages from the Quran and set it on fire. On that day, Muslims around the world were celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s major religious holidays.