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Russia rejects Council of Europe demand to repeal country’s
so-called ‘gay propaganda law’ & accuses body of ‘abuse of power’
7 Oct, 2021 09:18
Russia has rejected calls from the Council of Europe’s Commission against Racism and Intolerance to repeal the country’s controversial ban on the dissemination of information about “non-traditional” sexualities among minors.
Speaking to TASS news agency, Ivan Soltanovsky, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, called the commission’s demand an “abuse of power,” noting that Moscow does not feel it should follow recommendations it gives on the treatment of sexual minorities.
The Council of Europe is an organization of 47 European nations, including Russia. On Tuesday, it published a statement calling for Moscow to “abolish the legal ban on the provision of information about homosexuality to minors,” in line with a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2017.
The Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) “exceeded its authority in preparing the report,” Soltanovsky said.
“Protection of sex minorities is not part of its mandate. In this regard, calls to repeal the legal ban on the dissemination of information on homosexuality to minors as a matter of priority are legally null and void and constitute interference in Russia’s internal affairs,” he claimed.
In 2013, Russia enacted what is known colloquially as the “gay propaganda law,” which implemented restrictions on the endorsement of “non-traditional sexual values among minors.” The legislation has been criticized internationally, its detractors both at home and abroad calling it an attack on LGBT rights.
Four years later, in 2017, three Russian activists brought a case to the European human rights court against Moscow, alleging that the legislation infringed on their freedom of expression. Six of the seven judges agreed with the complainant, with just Russian judge Dmitry Dedov dissenting. Moscow has not acted on the judgment.
According to Soltanovsky, this latest report by the ECRI is not the first time it has gone beyond its area of competence.
“In fact, the ECRI tries to deprive the states of their sovereign rights in the field of migration policy, which contributes to the growth of uncontrolled illegal migration and complicates the fight against human trafficking,” he claimed, noting that Russia would be happy to continue cooperating with the commission if he refrains from crossing “red lines” and instead focuses on the likes of discrimination against national minorities, Nazism and Christianophobia.
Polish court finds some EU Treaty articles unconstitutional,
but Brussels says its laws come first
7 Oct, 2021 19:10
Poland’s constitutional tribunal has ruled that some EU laws clash with the Polish constitution. The EU – already perturbed at Poland’s nationalist government’s policies – argues otherwise.
The ruling was issued on Thursday, with Judge Bartlomiej Sochanski stating that “The EU Treaty is subordinate to the constitution in the Polish legal system…and, like any part of the Polish legal system, it must comply with the constitution,” according to a Reuters report.
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has attempted to implement judicial reforms that it says will rid the country’s courts of communist-era influence. However, the EU accuses the PiS of using these reforms to erode judicial independence, and has tied a coronavirus-related bailout package of €57 billion ($66 billion) from Poland to acceptance of the EU’s rule of law demands.
EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said last month that the outcome of the case could have “possible consequences” for the delivery of these funds. Warsaw called his remarks “blackmail.”
Warsaw and Brussels have also clashed on Poland’s policies toward LGBT people. The European Commission has threatened to sanction Poland over multiple towns and localities in the deeply conservative, Catholic country declaring themselves “LGBT-free zones.” The Commission has already moved to withhold funding from these jurisdictions, with some rowing back their declarations to keep the money flowing.
i.e. selling their souls for mammon.
Additionally, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has begun drawing up plans for a bloc-wide effort to have same-sex partnerships in one member state recognized in all, and to make hate crime an offense under EU law.
Such efforts would depend on EU law trumping national law, as Poland’s court on Thursday found it doesn’t.
But Brussels disagrees. In a statement following the court’s decision, the European Commission said that it has “serious concerns” about the ruling, and insisted that “EU law has primacy over national law, including constitutional provisions.”
The Commission added that it would “not hesitate to make use of its powers under the treaties to safeguard the uniform application and integrity of union law.”
When the EU was first created, did the individual countries know that they had surrendered their sovereignty? I have my doubts!
Hungary’s Orban blames Brussels & its climate change policies
for soaring EU gas prices
"Brussels isn’t the solution today, they are the problem,”
8 Oct, 2021 11:15
The EU should withdraw its policies aimed at tackling climate change as they’re the reason for the record surge in energy prices on the continent in autumn, Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister, has said.
Energy bills have been spiking for customers across Europe because of bad decisions made by “bureaucrats in Brussels,” who are fighting for ecology by continuously raising the price of energy generated from coal and gas, Orban insisted in a radio interview on Friday.
“These decisions must be withdrawn... at present gas prices are where they should be in 2035. Brussels isn’t the solution today, they are the problem,” he said.
Poles, Czech and we Hungarians demand that the rules should be withdrawn.
According to the PM, the difficult situation on the energy market would top the agenda at the next EU summit, with Budapest, Warsaw and Prague to present a unified front at the meeting and offer their solutions to the crisis.
Orban again blasted EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans, who is pushing hard for the EU to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. He recently warned that the rising emissions from Europe’s transport sector may prevent the bloc from achieving that goal.
“It’s a commissioner called Timmermans, who is posing the biggest threat to us,” the PM said.
The Hungarian leader already attacked Timmermans during his visit to Slovenia on Thursday, saying that “his calculations were incorrect and the EU residents must pay the extra price.” He also slammed the EU’s climate change policies as “foolish.”
Those not paying “the extra price” are actually the Hungarians, as caps on gas and power price hikes for households have been in place in the country after being introduced by Orban’s government in 2010.
The spike in energy bills in the EU, which the experts say was driven by rising gas prices and soaring cost of permits on the bloc’s carbon market, have only increased the split on green transition policies within the 27-member union. While wealthy nations see it as a sign to boost action against climate change, the poorer countries are voicing increasing concerns about the economic fallout of such measures.
Gas prices triple in one month
Midweek, European gas prices have set a scary record by rising above $1,900 per 1,000 cubic meters – nearly three times higher than in September. The price dropped significantly after Russia said that it was going to boost gas supplies to the bloc, but the situation still remains harsh.
EU condemnation of Russia-Belarus integration plan is illegal meddling
in action of sovereign countries, says Union State official
8 Oct, 2021 15:17
By condemning the integration of Russia and Belarus, members of the European Parliament are trying to influence cooperation between Moscow and Minsk, in what amounts to foreign interference in the internal affairs of two nations.
That’s according to Dmitry Mezentsev, the former Russian ambassador to Belarus, who now serves as State Secretary of the Union State.
Neither Russia nor Belarus are members of the EU, so, why do they think they have anything to say about either country?
Russia and Belarus signed the Union State treaty in 1999, but many of its proposals have not been realized. According to the document’s text, the two nations planned to create a joint parliament, court and cabinet. Moscow and Minsk also pledged to develop a shared currency, military and customs space, as well as share a flag, constitution and head of state. Although none of these proposals has been achieved, great strides have been made in recent months to finally increase integration.
Speaking on Thursday, Mezentsev slammed a resolution adopted by the European Parliament the previous day, which condemned Moscow for its support of Minsk and attacked the Union integration program.
“The European Parliament should consider how to develop and strengthen relations within the European Union, which is their own way of responding to modern challenges and threats,” he said. “There is no reason to believe that the competence of the European Parliament extends to the plans and strategic objectives that Russia and Belarus have defined for themselves as independent and sovereign states.”
In addition, the diplomat stressed that accusations the Union State would violate Belarus’ sovereignty are far from the truth and accused the MEPs of breaking the tradition of respect for the right of nations to determine their own goals and priorities.
They could always join the EU and have their sovereignty violated.
“It is naive to believe that the document passed by the European Parliament can somehow slow down the negotiation process,” he continued.
Last month, following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, Putin revealed that both sides had agreed on 28 joint programs for the Union State, including the consolidation of the gas market.
Despite discussions on further integration, Lukashenko has denied rumors that Belarus will soon become a part of Russia. Speaking to CNN last month, the long-time leader called these proposals “an invention of the collective West.”
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