“Being yourself is not an ideology,” tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday March 10. The statement came as the European Parliament was simultaneously discussing a resolution aimed at making the European Union a “zone of freedom” for LGBT people.
According to the Huffington Post, the resolution was finally adopted on Thursday 11 March. Supported by environmental MEP Terry Reintke, also co-chair of the LGBT intergroup, the resolution was accepted by 492 MEPs. Some 141 other elected officials opposed it, while nearly fifty abstained.
The resolution is above all a response against other European countries, not Islam: It aims to condemn the members of the European Union who are reluctant to welcome LGBT activism and address reforms required. This is particularly the case of Hungary and Poland, because they had decided a few months ago to promulgate a “charter of family rights” resolutely opposed to LGBT ideology.
“We know that our lives are still in danger, our rights restricted, our freedom stifled in too many places in the EU,” Terry Reintke told the European Parliament. More than a simple declaration of principles, the resolution adopted aims to put “pressure on the European Commission and on the Member States” said MEP Pierre Karleskind.
The resolution effectively calls on the European Commission to “use all the tools at its disposal to fight against violations of fundamental rights” of LGBT people in Europe. Among these tools, the Huffington Post cites infringement procedures, the conditioning of the payment of European funds to respect for “the rule of law” and finally Article 7.
This last article allows the Commission to withdraw from a Member State its right to vote, in the event of a “serious violation” of European “values”. It is however very unlikely that this article 7 will be triggered for the Polish or Hungarian cases, the latter requiring a unanimous vote of the 27 members.
No comments.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.