STRASBOURG, France, Feb. 15 – In the face of attacks against foreigners in the Muslim world by violent critics of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the European Union's chief executive said Wednesday that Europe had to fight for its core European values, including freedom of speech.
"We have to stick very much to these values," said José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission. "If not, we are accepting fear in this society."
Referring to his youth during a totalitarian regime in Portugal, Mr. Barroso, a former Portuguese prime minister, said in an interview that Europe had to defend its right to have in place a system that allowed the publication of the cartoons.
"I understand that it offended many people in the Muslim world, but is it better to have a system where some excesses are allowed or be in some countries where they don't even have the right to say this?" he said. "This reminds me of my own country up to 1974. I defend the democratic system."
He said European society was based on principles that included equality of rights between men and women, freedom of speech and a distinction between politics and religion.
Mr. Barroso has faced criticism that he has not done enough to support Denmark, a member of the European Union, after threats and attacks over the cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper.
But in the interview, he expressed solidarity with the Danish people and said, "What is not right is to put the blame on a single people or say the people of Denmark have to be blamed."
In order to avoid a clash of civilizations in Europe and help integration, he said, European leaders have to be careful to make a "clear distinction" between nondemocratic Muslims in Europe and those who believe in European values, which "are the vast majority of Muslims," and to reach out to those.
"Islam is part of Europe," he said. "We have a very important Islamic heritage."
He said Europeans from every walk of society had to be careful to expunge all forms of prejudice against Islam from public life. "We have to speak to the moderate Islamic leaders and make a clear distinction between natural expression of belief, which we respect, and what is a manipulation and fundamentalism," he said.
He also distinguished between the initial publication of the cartoons by the Danish newspaper and the republication by many newspapers and magazines across Europe, which he termed a "provocation."
Since taking office 15 months ago, Mr. Barroso has presided over a populist backlash against economic changes and the defeat of Europe's constitutional treaty, caused partly by voters' fears about the possible expansion of the European Union to new countries, including overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey, and the fear of competition from immigrants.
That backlash has forced him to accept the watering down of major economic programs. But speaking on the eve of a crucial vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on legislation to liberalize Europe's services sector, he defended his reformist credentials and said the slower pace of change was a reflection of the democratic processes of a European Union of 25 nations.
"We can't compare the E.U. with an integrated polity" like the United States, he said. "We are 25, not one. They take a lot of time. We are not China or the U.S. It is the essence of Europe. We want to be 25 free democracies."
