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World

Poland must pay 500,000 euros daily for ignoring EU court ruling on Turow

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The Turow open-pit coal mine operated by the company PGE is seen in Bogatynia, Poland, June 15, 2021. Picture taken June 15, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny

BRUSSELS, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Poland will have to pay a 500,000 euro ($585,550) daily penalty to the European Commission for defying an earlier court order to halt operations at its Turow open-pit lignite mine, Europe’s top court said on Monday.

The order, which a Polish deputy minister called “aggression,” comes amid a dragging dispute between coal-reliant Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Czech government says the mine is damaging communities along its side of the border, and it subsequently took its grievance to the European Commission which last year started legal proceedings against Poland, saying Warsaw had breached EU law when extending the mine’s life.

The Czech Republic also took its case to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest, and won judges’ backing for a temporary order to Poland to stop Turow’s operations until a final judgment in the case – which Warsaw has rejected.

It also asked for a daily penalty payment of 5 million euros to be levied on Poland. The court on Monday agreed on a fine but set it at a much lower sum.

“Poland is ordered to pay the European Commission a daily penalty payment of €500 000 because it has not ceased lignite extraction activities at Turów mine,” the CJEU said.

“Such a measure appears necessary in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the interim measures decided upon in the order of 21 May 2021 and to deter that member state from delaying bringing its conduct into line with that order,” judges said.

TALKS DRAG ON

The order could pressure Warsaw to reach a deal with Prague over upgrades and measures to safeguard water, noise and air levels around the mine that the Czech government has sought.

Talks started in June and are aimed at the Czech Republic removing its legal challenge. read more

In response to the penalty, Czech Environment Minister Richard Brabec said it could be motivation for Poland to respect the court’s pre-emptive ruling.

Polish group PGE (PGE.WA), which operates Turow, situated along the Czech and German borders, said it expects operations to continue.

Polish deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta called the order “aggression” on the side of the court and the European Commission, while another deputy, Marcin Romanowski, said it went beyond blackmail.

“The CJEU demands half a million daily fines from Poland for the fact that Poland did not leave its citizens without energy and did not close the mines overnight,” he said on Twitter. “It is judicial robbery and theft in broad daylight. You won’t get a cent.”

($1 = 0.8539 euros)

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; additional reporting by Anna Koper in Warsaw and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Mark Porter

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World

The Taliban are lying, France’s foreign minister says

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attends a joint news conference at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany September 10, 2021. Jens Schlueter/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS, Sept 12 (Reuters) – The Taliban are lying and France will not have any relationship with its newly-formed government, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said late on Saturday before heading for talks in Qatar on Sunday to discuss future evacuations from Afghanistan.

“They said they would let some foreigners and Afghans leave freely and (talked) of an inclusive and representative government, but they are lying,” Le Drian said on France 5 TV.

“France refuses to recognise or have any type of relationship with this government. We want actions from the Taliban and they will need some economic breathing space and international relations. It’s up to them.”

Paris has evacuated about 3,000 people and had held technical talks with the Taliban to enable those departures.

Le Drian, who is heading to the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday, said there were still a few French nationals and a few hundred Afghans with ties to France remaining in Afghanistan.

Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Daniel Wallis

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World

EU rejects reworking N. Ireland deal, urges rhetoric dial-down

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BELFAST, Sept 10 (Reuters) – The European Union rejected a British demand to renegotiate their deal governing the trading position of Northern Ireland, saying that to so would only bring instability and uncertainty.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who oversees post-Brexit EU relations with Britain, said in a speech on Friday that the Northern Ireland protocol needed to be properly implemented and that it was not the cause of problems, rather the only solution.

“A renegotiation of the protocol – as the UK government is suggesting – would mean instability, uncertainty and unpredictability in Northern Ireland,” he said, according to the text of his speech at Queen’s University in Belfast.

Under the protocol, Britain agreed to leave some EU rules in place in Northern Ireland and accept checks on goods arriving from elsewhere in the United Kingdom, in order to preserve an open land border with EU member state Ireland. London has since said the arrangement is not working and wants it changed.

Sefcovic, on a two-day visit to the British province, said the EU was seeking solutions for all, including those opposed to the protocol.

European Commissioner for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight Maros Sefcovic speaks during a news conference on Brexit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 30, 2021. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS

“I know it is possible for us to work together, if rhetoric on both sides is dialled down,” he said, adding that the spirit of compromise had to be mutual.

Gavin Robinson, a member of Northern Ireland’s largest pro-British party, the Democratic Unionist Party, described Sefcovic’s comments as “belligerent”, “mistaken” and “foolish”. read more

Sefcovic said the EU was committed to working with Britain to overcome difficulties but any solutions could only minimise the effects of Brexit, not entirely remove them, given London’s choice to leave the EU single market and customs union.

The commissioner said the two sides should continue discussions to limit the impact of the protocol on everyday life in Northern Ireland, while maintaining its special access to the EU’s internal market.

Britain has said it wants a “normal treaty framework” that is not policed by the European Court of Justice. Sefcovic said that would effectively mean cutting Northern Ireland out of the EU single market.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by John Chalmers, Angus MacSwan and Mark Heinrich

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World

EU should enable military coalitions to tackle crises, Germany says

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  • EU tries to revive idea of intervention force
  • EU, an economic power, lacks common defences
  • Afghanistan shows need for action, Borrell says

BRDO, Slovenia, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Germany called on the European Union on Thursday to enable coalitions of the willing within the bloc to rapidly deploy a military force in a crisis as members discussed the lessons learned after the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan.

EU efforts to create a rapid reaction force have been paralysed for more than a decade despite the creation in 2007 of a system of battlegroups of 1,500 troops that have never been used due to disputes over funding and a reluctance to deploy.

But the exit of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan has brought the subject back into the spotlight, with the EU alone potentially unable to evacuate personnel from countries where it is training foreign troops, such as in Mali. read more

“Sometimes there are events that catalyse history, that create a breakthrough, and I think that Afghanistan is one of these cases,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Slovenia, adding that he hoped for a plan in October or November.

Borrell urged the bloc to create a rapidly deployable “first entry force” of 5,000 troops to reduce dependence on the United States. He said President Joe Biden was the third consecutive U.S. leader to warn the Europeans that his country was pulling back from interventions abroad in Europe’s backyard.

“It represents a warning for the Europeans they need to wake (up) and to take their own responsibilities,” he said after chairing a meeting of EU defence ministers in Slovenia.

DECISION DILEMMA

Diplomats in the meeting told Reuters there was no decision on the way ahead, with the EU unable to agree on how it would quickly decide to authorise a mission without involving all 27 states, their national parliaments and those wanting United Nations approval.

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

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The proposal from Germany, one of the strongest military powers in the EU but historically reluctant to send its forces into combat, would rely on a joint decision by the bloc but not necessarily all members deploying their forces.

“In the EU, coalitions of the willing could act after a joint decision of all,” German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a tweet in Slovenia.

A rapid reaction force is seen as more likely now that Britain has exited the bloc. Britain, one of Europe’s main military powers alongside France, had been sceptical of collective defence policy.

EU diplomats say they want a final deal on design and funding by March, when France takes over its six-month presidency in January.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said the key question was not whether the EU would establish a new military unit, and the discussion must not stop there.

“The military capabilities in EU member countries do exist,” she said. “The key question for the future of the European security and defence police is how we finally use our military capabilities together.”

Slovenia Defence Minister Matej Tonin meanwhile suggested that a rapid reaction force could comprise 5,000 to 20,000 troops but deployment should not depend on a unanimous decision by the EU’s 27 states.

“If we are talking about the European battlegroups, the problem is that, because of the consensus, they are almost never activated,” Matej, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters.

“Maybe the solution is that we invent a mechanism where the classic majority will be enough and those who are willing will be able to go (ahead).”

Reporting by Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Hugh Lawson, Peter Graff, Alison Williams and Mark Porter

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World

EU to seek to stop mass Afghanistan migration flows, draft statement says

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BRUSSELS, Aug 30 (Reuters) – European Union states are determined to prevent uncontrolled migration from Afghanistan following the takeover of the country by the Taliban, a draft statement prepared for a meeting on Tuesday says.

EU governments are eager to avoid a repeat of the chaotic influx of refugees and migrants in 2015 that caught the bloc unprepared and sowed divisions among them, fuelling support for far-right parties as camps in Greece, Italy and elsewhere swelled.

“Based on lessons learned, the EU and its member states stand determined to act jointly to prevent the recurrence of uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements faced in the past, by preparing a coordinated and orderly response,” interior ministers will say at the meeting, according to the draft statement seen by Reuters.

The position emerged as the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR warned that up to half a million Afghans could flee their homeland by the end of the year.

Thousands of Afghans have been evacuated in a massive airlift mounted by Western forces following the Taliban’s seizure of the capital Kabul on Aug.15. But as the operation winds down, many have been left behind to an uncertain fate under the rule of the hardline Islamist group.

The UNHCR appealed for support on Monday, saying “a larger crisis is just beginning” for Afghanistan’s 39 million people.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share responsibility with Iran and Pakistan, which already host 2.2 million Afghans.

An Afghan evacuee carrying a child walks at a holding centre run by the Italian Red Cross, where she carries out a quarantine with others, in Avezzano, Italy, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

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“The airlifts out of Kabul will end in a matter of days, and the tragedy that has unfolded will no longer be as visible. But it will still be a daily reality for millions of Afghans. We must not turn away,” Grandi said in a statement.

At Tuesday’s emergency meeting in Brussels, the EU ministers will also reiterate the bloc’s promise to give more money for Afghanistan as well as surrounding countries, although delivering aid had become more complicated since the Taliban took control, EU officials said.

“The EU should also strengthen the support to the countries in Afghanistan’s immediate neighbourhood to ensure that those in need receive adequate protection primarily in the region,” the ministers will say, according to the draft statement.

Although Turkey helped contain the 2015 crisis with EU funding by taking in millions of Syrians fleeing, Ankara is less willing to receive many Afghans as the COVID-19 pandemic and an economic slump strain social and security services.

The ministers will also pledge to stop new security threats from Afghanistan for EU citizens, the draft said. It did not contain specific details of new measures.

The International Rescue Committee, meanwhile, said the EU should create a new scheme to resettle at least 30,000 Afghans from the region in the next 12 months. The charity estimated there were already 2.6 million Afghan refugees, mainly hosted by Iran and Pakistan.

“The EU must uphold the right to seek asylum for people fleeing Afghanistan,” the IRC said in a statement. Caritas Europa also called on the EU not to abandon Afghans.

Separately, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he wanted to see the bloc create a military rapid response force to intervene in future crises and help stabilise fragile democracies abroad.

Reporting by Robin Emmott, Editing by Sabine Siebold and Angus MacSwan

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World

Six EU countries warn against open door for Afghan asylum seekers

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BRUSSELS, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Six EU member states have sent a letter to the bloc’s executive warning against halting deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers despite major advances of Taliban militants in their country.

The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, have made sweeping gains in their campaign to defeat the government as U.S.-led foreign forces pull out.[nL1N2PH0LT]

“Stopping returns sends the wrong signal and is likely to motivate even more Afghan citizens to leave their home for the EU,” Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany said in the letter dated Aug. 5 and seen by Reuters.

“This is why we urge you and your teams at the Commission to intensify talks with the Afghan government on how returns to Afghanistan can and will continue in the coming months.”

Many EU member states are nervous that developments in Afghanistan could trigger a replay of Europe’s 2015/16 migration crisis when the chaotic arrival of more than a million people from the Middle East stretched security and welfare systems and fuelled political support for far-right groups.

The European Commission said it had received the letter from the six countries and would reply when ready.

Asked if the European Commission considers Afghanistan a safe country to which asylum seekers can be returned, a spokesman for the EU executive said it is up to member states to make that judgement.

“At an EU level there isn’t a list of countries considered safe relating to asylum applications or for returns. It’s up to each member state to assess … the country of origin and the situation of the person concerned,” he said.

The issue is expected to come up at a crisis meeting of EU domestic affairs ministers on Aug. 18, which was arranged mainly to discuss a surge of illegal border crossings from Belarus to EU member state Lithuania. read more Poland and Latvia have also seen an increased flow of migrants from Belarus.

Since 2015, around 570,000 Afghans have requested asylum in the EU, the letter from the six EU countries noted, 44,000 in 2020 alone, making Afghanistan the second most important country of origin last year.

“We fully recognise the sensitive situation in Afghanistan in light of the foreseen withdrawal of international troops,” the countries said, adding that an estimated 4.6 million Afghans were already displaced, many of them in the region.

The six countries urged the bloc to look into providing the best support for refugees by increasing cooperation with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Belgium’s state secretary for asylum and migration, Sammy Mahdi, defended the initiative against criticism.

“That regions of a country are not safe does not mean that each national of that country automatically is entitled to protection,” he said on Twitter.

A spokeswoman for the Netherlands’ Safety and Justice Ministry said that if individuals had the right to asylum they can get it but there should be no catch-all label for one country.

“The situation is very worrying, it’s always under review,” said spokeswoman Charlotte Hees.

Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Nick Macfie

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World

EXCLUSIVE UK to warn EU it may deviate from Brexit deal on N.Ireland -sources

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  • UK prepares showdown with EU over N.Ireland
  • UK to warn it may deviate from Brexit deal
  • Frost says: Things have to change
  • Frost says: All options on the table

BRUSSELS/LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) – Britain will threaten this week to deviate from the Brexit deal unless the European Union shows more flexibility over Northern Ireland, one UK and three EU sources told Reuters, a move that could thrust the five-year Brexit divorce into tumult.

Deviating from the deal’s so-called Northern Ireland Protocol is a risky step: its aim was to prevent Brexit from disrupting the delicate peace brought to Northern Ireland by the U.S.-brokered 1998 agreement that ended three decades of sectarian conflict.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who signed the 2020 Brexit deal, has been dismayed by the protocol which has imposed paperwork and checks that London says could prevent British food staples such as sausages going to Northern Ireland.

David Frost, the British minister who leads Brexit negotiations, is preparing to announce a significant potential change on the protocol that could have far-reaching consequences for the relationship with the EU, one of the sources said.

The plans are being worked on by Downing Street. Frost is due to update parliament on Wednesday about Northern Ireland and Brexit, and will also present a paper on Brexit to lawmakers.

After the Reuters report, Frost told lawmakers the protocol was not sustainable in its current form and that if an agreement could not be reached then London would consider all options, including unilateral action through Article 16 of the protocol.

“All options are on the table,” Frost said, when asked if he would consider triggering Article 16. “We’ve said it’s not sustainable in the way it’s working at the moment, things have got to change.”

Frost said it was not yet clear whether or not a fundamental rebalancing of the protocol was possible.

Brussels expects Frost will push for a deviation from the protocol unless the EU agrees to compromise, said an EU diplomat who was briefed on talks with British negotiators.

“We will not agree to the reopening of the Irish protocol,” said a third source, a senior EU official.

Britain is expected to go beyond its demands for changes to veterinary rules. The senior EU official and a second EU diplomat said that London would seek to have the European Court of Justice (ECJ) removed from the arbitration process.

Preserving the peace in Northern Ireland while protecting the EU’s single market but without dividing up the United Kingdom was always the most difficult riddle of the Brexit saga since the 2016 referendum.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Since the United Kingdom exited the bloc’s orbit on Jan. 1, Johnson unilaterally delayed the implementation of some provisions of the protocol and Frost has said the protocol is unsustainable.

Frost is insisting on a bespoke veterinary deal based on equivalence which London says would remove the need for controls on goods crossing from Britain to Northern Ireland.

Britain is arguing that there should be a more flexible approach to agri-food rules to limit the impact on everyday lives and will spell out clearly what the options and risks are.

The 1998 peace deal largely brought an end to the “Troubles” – three decades of conflict between Irish Catholic nationalist militants and pro-British Protestant “loyalist” paramilitaries in which 3,600 people were killed.

An open Irish land border is seen as crucial to the spirit of that deal by aiming to safeguard peace, free trade and travel on the island.

But that became a problem after the 2016 Brexit vote. The EU could not close the land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but feared it could become a backdoor into the EU’s single market.

The result was the 63-page “Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland”, which effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods and having Northern Ireland apply EU customs rules at its ports.

But by putting checks on some goods crossing between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, many pro-British unionists say the protocol has breached the 1998 peace settlement.

Loyalist paramilitary groups told Johnson in March that they were temporarily withdrawing support for the peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal. read more

Writing by Gabriela Baczynska and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and Guy Faulconbridge in London; additional reporting by William James; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Catherine Evans and Toby Chopra

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Health

Unvaccinated Belgian woman contracted two COVID variants simultaneously

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An employee at an elderly residence checks a person for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as tests are performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BRUSSELS, July 11 (Reuters) – A 90-year-old Belgian woman who died from COVID-19 in March had contracted two variants of coronavirus at the same time, which is believed to be the first documented case of its kind, a scientific congress and Belgian media said on Sunday.

The case, discussed at this year’s European Congress on Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), shows that it is possible to catch two COVID-19 variants simultaneously, the society that organised the congress said in a statement.

The society said the woman became sick with Alpha and Beta types first identified in Britain and South Africa and her doctors said she could have contracted the infections from two different people.

The woman, who was treated at a hospital in Aalst near Brussels, had not been vaccinated, Belgium’s Dutch-language public broadcaster VRT said. Belgium, like much of the European Union, faced vaccine delivery problems early in 2021 and its vaccination programme started slowly, although the EU has now delivered vaccines to cover 70% of the population. read more

The society, citing discussions at the July 9-12 congress, said doctors believe it was the first documented case of its kind and, although rare, similar dual infections are happening.

“Both variants were circulating (in March) in Belgium,” molecular biologist Anne Vankeerberghen of the OLV hospital in Aalst said on VRT’s website.

“It is therefore probable that this woman was infected by two different people with two variants of the virus. Unfortunately, we do not know how this infection happened,” she said.

The European Commission, the EU executive, has warned that it expected the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus to become dominant in Europe this summer, citing estimates from the EU disease prevention agency. read more

Reporting by Robin Emmott. Editing by Jane Merriman

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Business

EU fines Volkswagen, BMW $1 bln for emissions cartel

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  • Sets precedent by applying antitrust law to technical talks
  • Daimler gets off fine after blowing whistle on cartel
  • VW considering taking legal action
  • BMW says cleared of suspicion of emissions cheating

BRUSSELS, July 8 (Reuters) – The European Commission fined German carmakers Volkswagen and BMW a total of 875 million euros ($1 billion) on Thursday for colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology they had developed.

The case, separate to the so-called ‘Dieselgate’ scandal over software designed to cheat on vehicle emissions tests, sets a precedent by extending the application of European competition law to technical-level talks between industry players.

In this case, talks held a decade ago centred on design standards for AdBlue, an additive used to cleanse nitrogen oxide from the exhaust gases produced by diesel-powered cars.

“This is a first,” European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told a news conference in Brussels. “We have never had a cartel whose purpose was to restrict the use of novel technology.”

Under a settlement, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will pay a fine of 502 million euros and BMW (BMWG.DE) 373 million euros. Daimler, also part of the cartel, was not fined after revealing its existence.

Vestager said the German carmakers, which included VW units Audi (AUDVF.PK) and Porsche (PSHG_p.DE), had possessed the technology to reduce harmful emissions more than required under EU law but avoided competing to do so.

“So today’s decision is about how legitimate technical cooperation went wrong. And we do not tolerate it when companies collude,” said Vestager.

The EU had narrowed the original scope of its investigation to ensure its charges stuck.

IS TECHNICAL COLLUSION POSSIBLE?

Vestager said that all of the parties had agreed to settle the case and “have acknowledged their role in this cartel”.

Volkswagen, however, said it was considering whether to take legal action, saying the penalty over technical talks about emissions technology set a questionable precedent. read more

“The Commission is entering new judicial territory, because it is treating technical cooperation for the first time as an antitrust violation,” Volkswagen said, adding that the fines had been set even though no customers had suffered any harm.

The nub of the carmakers’ complaints boil down to whether setting common technical standards amounts to anti-competitive behaviour – or whether indeed it makes it easier for an industry as a whole to embrace new technology.

The Commission said in its 2019 charge sheet that the German carmakers had colluded to restrict the size of AdBlue tanks between 2006 and 2014, thus making the urea-based additive less convenient to use.

BMW noted in its defence that it had been cleared of suspicion of using illegal ‘defeat devices’ to cheat emissions tests. read more

“This underlines that there has never been any allegation of unlawful manipulation of emission control systems by the BMW Group,” BMW said in a statement.

In the Dieselgate scandal, VW admitted to using such defeat devices, leading to more than 32 billion euros ($38 billion) in vehicle refits, fines and legal costs for the Wolfsburg-based carmaker.

($1 = 0.8460 euros)

Editing by John Chalmers, Douglas Busvine, Maria Sheahan, Elaine Hardcastle

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World

Hungary rejects EU demand to ditch ‘shameful’ anti-LGBT law

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BRUSSELS, July 7 (Reuters) – Hungary on Wednesday rejected a demand from the European Commission and many EU lawmakers to repeal new legislation banning schools from using materials deemed to promote homosexuality.

Last month, EU leaders lambasted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over the legislation in a tense discussion behind closed doors, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte telling Budapest to respect EU values of tolerance or leave the bloc.

“Homosexuality is equated with pornography. This legislation uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation,” Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive Commission told the European Parliament. “It is a disgrace.”

The Commission can open a new legal case against Hungary at the European Court of Justice or use a new mechanism designed to protect the rule of law in the 27-nation bloc by freezing funding for countries that undermine democratic standards.

Orban, who faces a national election next year, has said the new law aims to protect children and does not discriminate against sexual minorities.

His chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, reiterated that stance on Wednesday: “Brussels’ efforts to have us allow LGBTQ activists into schools and nursery schools are in vain, we are not willing to do that.”

The case is the latest flare-up between Hungary and the EU, which has already launched an investigation againstBudapest for undermining democracy. Orban has steadily tightened restrictions on media, NGOs, academics and migrants despite the criticism from Brussels, international watchdogs and rights groups.

Demonstrators attend a protest against a law that bans LGBTQ content in schools and media at the Presidential Palace in Budapest, Hungary, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo

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Hungary’s conservative ally, Poland, is expected to block any attempt to impose the maximum EU penalty of suspending Budapest’s voting rights in the 27-nation bloc.

‘OFFENSIVE AND SHAMEFUL’

EU lawmakers urged the Commission not to release to Hungary funds earmarked for supporting its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic if they are to contribute to Budapest’s anti-LGBT agenda or before it can ensure solid anti-fraud protection.

Discriminating against LGBTI+ people is illegal in the EU, said Iraxte Garcia Perez, a Spanish EU lawmaker and the head of the socialist faction in the European Parliament.

“That is why the new law in Hungary must be repealed. An offensive and shameful law that goes against human rights.”

Lawmakers also spoke against so-called “LGBT-free zones” that some local authorities established in Poland, which also faces EU legal action.

At the other end of the spectrum, Spain became the first large EU country last month to approve a draft bill to allow anyone aged over 14 to change gender legally without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called the split over values between the liberal West and more conservative eastern countries such as Hungary and Poland a “cultural battle” that damages EU unity.

Reporting by Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Toby Chopra, Giles Elgood and Gareth Jones

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