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From: TT
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Photo: John Thys / AP / TT
The EU Commissioner for Valuation and Transparency, Vera Jourová, in the presentation of a new LGBTQ strategy.
We are in 2020, says the European Commission in the launch of an LGBTQ strategy. Clear fingers point to homophobia in Eastern Europe.
European Commission valuation commissioner Vera Jourová and gender equality colleague Helena Dalli want to open the EU’s cupboards.
– We will defend the rights of LGBTQ people against all those who are now increasingly eager to attack them ideologically. This belongs to an authoritarian order and has no place in the EU, Jourová says in Thursday’s presentation of a new strategy.
The plans include future proposals to include homophobic hate crimes in the list of “EU crimes”, where common minimum sentences can be set across the EU. There are also proposals to guarantee the rights of LGBTQ families when they move between different member states.
“Scary”
The strategy comes in a situation where Poland and Hungary in particular have attracted attention for wanting to weaken rather than strengthen various LGBTQ rights, notably through “LGBTQ-free zones”, which a large number of small towns Poles have proclaimed.
“For me, it is a direct violation of human rights and a terrifying event,” says Swedish MEP Evin Incir (S), who visited Poland over the weekend.
In court?
Incir and more of his Swedish colleagues now expect the European Commission to come up with more than just beautiful words.
“The serious violations of LGBTQ people that we see in, for example, Poland should be classified as a crime against the rule of law and punished with withdrawn support from the EU,” Karin Karlsbro (left) says in a statement.
“The European Commission must take off its silk gloves and start taking countries to court,” said Abir Al-Sahlani (C).
In any case, Commissioners Jourová and Dalli are trying to pinpoint what year it is.
– It is 2020 and hatred and discrimination against sexual minorities do not belong to Europe, says Vera Jourová.
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