A/61/335 B. Coordination with other human rights mechanisms 20. As part of his ongoing regular consultations with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Special Rapporteur reported on 7 March 2006 to the Committee on his activities over the past year and communicated his views on the ethnic, religious and political dimensions of the upsurge in racism and xenophobia. 21. The Special Rapporteur believes that the Danish cartoon controversy has revealed two major issues underlying the current upsurge in racism. Firstly, he emphasizes the decisive role of identity constructions in recent manifestations of racism and xenophobia in several regions of the world. It is thus that identity reconstructions in the former Yugoslavia played a decisive role in the ethnic and religious polarization that characterized the wars in the Balkans and was central to several recent conflicts in Africa and Asia. In that connection, he believes that the rise in racism and xenophobia in Europe has its roots in the contradiction between, on the one hand, the dogma of old, national identities based on ethnicity and religion — upheld for emulation by other dominated peoples — and, on the other hand, the multiculturalism which structures societies today. This identity-related tension is politicized by far-right parties, intellectually and ideologically legitimized by influential circles of the intelligentsia and mass media and exploited for electoral purposes by democratic party leaders. It finds expression in a rejection of diversity and ethnic, cultural and religious pluralism and highlights the importance of the issue of racism and xenophobia in European societies. Thus, the Danish Government’s management of the cartoon crisis — including the Prime Minister’s refusal to meet with the ambassadors of Muslim countries immediately following the publication of the cartoons, long before the crisis gained international proportions, as well as the Government’s ideological stance which reduced the crisis to an insurmountable clash between two civilizations with opposing values — can largely be explained by a political context influenced by the xenophobic, racist and Islamophobic political platforms of far-right political parties that are members of the Government coalition. In this context, the Special Rapporteur believes that the reconstruction of a multicultural European identity is the forgotten issue in European construction. With regard to the debate over freedom of expression versus freedom of religion, he believes that it is paradoxically symptomatic both of progress in international law on the protection of fundamental human rights and of its limitations in combating racism, discrimination and xenophobia. It has been possible to evoke freedom of expression and freedom of religion because their protection is guaranteed by international instruments, but the controversy revealed that their compatibility depends above all on the dominant policy and ideology. He thus proposes that the Committee should make an in-depth study of the linkages between the principles of freedom of expression and freedom of religion, and of the imperatives of the fight against racism and xenophobia. He also notes that the legal thinking must be accompanied by an in-depth study of the issue of dialogue between cultures, civilizations and religions. He emphasizes the decisive role to be played by the Committee in the debate on the linkages between freedom of expression and the right to religious freedom. Finally, the Special Rapporteur proposes that the Committee should invite him to attend meetings on the examination of the reports submitted pursuant to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by States parties whose countries he has visited and on 06-51904 9