The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, underlined on Monday that Islam is part and parcel of Europe and he also condemned the concept of clash of civilizations.

"Islam today is part of Europe. It is important to understand this. One should not see Islam as outside Europe. We already have an important presence of Islam and Muslims among our citizens," Barroso told a press conference this afternoon after an informal dialogue between EU leaders and around twenty high-level representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Europe.

"We can be a European citizen being a Christian, being Jewish or Muslim or having no religion," he noted.

On his part, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr. Mustafa Ceric, said Islam is indeed part of Europe but unfortunately Turkey is not yet part of Europe.

"Following this logic Europe has to prove that Islam is part of Europe by not delaying the acceptance of Turkey to the EU," Ceric told the joint press conference.

Some estimate there are between 15-20 million Muslims in Western Europe, up to five percent of the region's total population, although Muslim groups put the figure much higher.

Islam, the world's second biggest religion after Christianity, is widely seen as Europe's fastest growing faith. The number of Muslims in Europe is projected to double by 2025 or sooner.

PHOTO CAPTION

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speaks during a joint news conference with religious leaders at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels May 5, 2008.