EU Commission chief pleads to tackle discrimination of LBGT people

Źródło: ec.europa.eu

"Respect for these fundamental rights, which are also enshrined in OSCE commitments and the obligations and standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union as communities of rights and values, obliges governments to protect all citizens from violence and discrimination and to ensure they enjoy equal opportunities" - reads an open letter signed by 50 ambassadors and members of international organisations operating in Poland. Among the signatories was the U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher. Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński commented on the letter via Twitter.

The letter, signed by 50 ambassadors and representatives of international organisations in Poland, and coordinated by the Embassy of Belgium, was published on Sunday at the website of the American Embassy in Poland, among other places. Among the letter's signatories was U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, who also posted a link to the document on Twitter. "Human Rights are not an ideology - they are universal. 50 Ambassadors and Representatives agree" - Mosbacher wrote in her post.

In response to the letter, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński wrote on Twitter: "Every human being enjoys equal level of protection under the Polish law. No one should be discriminated against in political, social or economic life – for any reason whatsoever. We fully agree with this message of today’s open letter by ambassadors accredited in Warsaw".

"We also positively assess the fact that the open letter does not repeat #fakenews about alleged 'LGBT-free zones' – that do not exist in Poland" - Jabłoński added in another tweet.

Furthermore, Jabłoński said that the Polish Constitution describes marriage as "a union of a woman and a man".

Read the full letter below:

Open letter of the Ambassadors of Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela, as well as the General Representative of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region, the General Delegate of the French Community and the Walloon Region, the Representatives in Poland of the European Commission and of the UNHCR, the First Deputy Director/Director’s alternate of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Head of Office of the International Organization for Migration and the Secretary General of the Community of Democracies. This letter has been coordinated by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Poland. Although due to epidemiological circumstances the 2020 Warsaw Equality Parade could not take place at the foreseen date we express our support for the efforts to raise public awareness of issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community and other communities in Poland facing similar challenges. We also acknowledge similar efforts in Białystok, Bielsko–Biała, Częstochowa, Gniezno, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Koszalin, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Nowy Sącz, Olsztyn, Opole, Płock, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Tarnów, Toruń, Trójmiasto, Włocławek, Wrocław and Zielona Góra. We affirm the inherent dignity of each individual as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Respect for these fundamental rights, which are also enshrined in OSCE commitments and the obligations and standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union as communities of rights and values, obliges governments to protect all citizens from violence and discrimination and to ensure they enjoy equal opportunities. To this end, and in particular to shield communities in need of protection from verbal and physical abuse and hate speech, we need to jointly work on an environment of non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual acceptance. This includes in particular sectors such as education, health, social affairs, citizenship, public service and public documents. We pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI and other communities in Poland and around the world, as well as the work of all those who seek to ensure human rights for LGBTI and other persons belonging to communities facing similar challenges, and to end discrimination in particular on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Human rights are universal and everyone, including LGBTI persons, are entitled to their full enjoyment. This is something that everyone should support.

Signed,   H.E. Shpresa Kureta, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania H.E. Ana María Ramírez, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic H.E. Lloyd David Hargreave Brodrick, Ambassador of Australia H.E. Werner Almhofer, Ambassador of Austria H.E. Luc Jacobs, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium H.E. Leslie Scanlon, Ambassador of Canada H.E. Tomislav Vidošević, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia H.E. Petros Kestoras, Ambassador of Republic of Cyprus H.E. Ivan Jestřáb, Ambassador of the Czech Republic H.E. Ole Toft, Royal Ambassador of Denmark H.E. Aníbal de Castro, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic H.E. Juha Ottman, Ambassador of Finland H.E. Frédéric Billet, Ambassador of France H.E. Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, Ambassador of Germany H.E. Michael-Efstratios C. Daratzikis, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic H.E. María Erla Marelsdóttir, Ambassador of Iceland H.E. Tsewang Namgyal, Ambassador of India H.E. Emer O’Connell, Ambassador of Ireland H.E. Alexander Ben-Zvi, Ambassador of Israel H.E. Aldo Amati, Ambassador of Italy H.E. Tsukasa Kawada, Ambassador of Japan H.E. Edgars Bondars, Ambassador of Latvia H.E. Eduardas Borisovas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania H.E. Paul Schmit, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg H.E. John Paul Grech, Ambassador of Malta H.E. Alejandro Negrín, Ambassador of Mexico H.E. Budimir Šegrt, Ambassador of Montenegro H.E. Daphne Bergsma, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands H.E. Mary Thurston, Ambassador of New Zealand H.E. Vasil Panovski, Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia H.E. Anders Eide, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway H.E. Luís Manuel Ribeiro Cabaço, Ambassador of Portugal H.E. Dario Galassi, Ambassador of San Marino H.E. Nikola Zurovac, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia H.E. Božena Forštnarič Boroje, Ambassador of Slovenia Daniel StemmerChargė D’ Affaires a.i., Embassy of South Africa H.E. Francisco Javier Sanabria Valderrama, Ambassador of Spain H.E. Stefan Gullgren, Ambassador of Sweden H.E. Jürg Burri, Ambassador of Switzerland H.E. Andrii Deshchytsia, Ambassador of Ukraine H.E. Anna Clunes, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland H.E. Georgette Mosbacher, Ambassador of the United States of America H.E. Luis Gómez Urdaneta, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Dries Willems, General Representative of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region Anne Defourny, General Delegate of the French Community and the Walloon Region Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, First Deputy Director/Director’s alternate of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights ODIHR Marek Prawda, Head of Representation, European Commission in Poland Christine Goyer, Representative, UNHCR Representation in Poland Thomas E. Garrett, Secretary General of the Community of Democracies Hanna Dobrzyńska, Director, International Organization for Migration (IOM)