Late last week, the European Parliament adopted its annual
progress reports for Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo - with
members urging more progress in the field of LGBT rights.
Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro are official candidates to join the
EU, and Kosovo is currently considered a potential candidate.
The resolution on Turkey "urges the Government to ensure that
equality, regardless of gender, gender identity, racial or ethnic
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation,
is guaranteed by the law and effectively enforced, including
respect by the police".
The Parliament also asked for homophobia and transphobia to be
included in hate crime law, condemned the frequent prosecution of
LGBT people, and asked that Turkish Armed Forces end classifying
homosexuality as a 'psychosexual illness'.
The resolution on Serbia includes extensive references to LGBT
rights. Notably, the Parliament expresses serious concern about
"the lack of political will [...] to ensure the safety of the
participants of the Pride Parade" in 2011, and "strongly condemns
inflammatory and discriminatory remarks on the topic by some
politicians and members of the Orthodox clergy."
Jelko Kacin MEP, Rapporteur for the accession of Serbia and member
of the LGBT Intergroup, declared: "We will continue to encourage
the authorities in Belgrade to make sure that the next trip of an
MEP to the Belgrade Pride will not only be to a press conference,
like mine was last year. LGBT rights should be respected throughout
the year, and the first convictions for hate violence set an
important precedent."
Thursday's resolution on Montenegro highlights positive
developments in the country, and "welcomes the recent adoption of
the Law Against Discrimination, which explicitly mentions sexual
orientation and gender identity".
Finally, the resolution on Kosovo highlights that "discrimination
is still a serious problem in the country, and calls on the
Government to implement a broad anti-discrimination strategy" on
all grounds, including sexual orientation and gender
identity.
Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Rapporteur for the integration process of
Kosovo and Co-president of the LGBT Intergroup, commented: "These
accession reports show the European Union is more committed than
ever to the respect of fundamental rights, regardless of people's
sexual orientation and gender identity. Now the Commission must
take note of these recommendations, and closely monitor
developments for LGBT rights in 2012."
"In the European Parliament and especially the LGBT Intergroup we
will follow developments, and insist that progress is essential for
LGBT people to be able to live their lives and loves without
fear."
