Polish leader's anti-gay stance threatens EU voting rights

[struggle4progress]

Nicholas Watt, European editor
Tuesday October 25, 2005
The Guardian

Poland could lose its EU voting rights if its newly elected president continues to oppose gay rights and seeks to introduce the death penalty, the European Commission warned yesterday.

In a shot across the bows of arch-conservative Lech Kaczynski, the commission declared that all member states must abide by EU rules which protect minorities and block the death penalty.

Failure to comply could trigger a special process under the Treaty of Nice which deprives errant member states of their voting rights in ministerial meetings. "We are going to follow the situation very attentively," the principal commission spokesman, Jonathan Todd, said yesterday.

The commission intervened after Mr Kaczynski, the Law and Justice party candidate, was confirmed as the winner of Sunday's second round in the Polish presidential election with 54% of the vote. Donald Tusk, a more moderate conservative from the pro-market Civic Platform party, won 46% of the vote. <snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,1599957,00.html

[saltpoint]

1. If Mr. Kaczynski can offer evidence that lesbians and gays are

in some way a subversive or menacing presence across the horizon of human endeavors, let's hear that evidence immediately from his very mouth.

Absent that evidence, I'd appreciate the opportunity to tell him he's an ignorant, hateful asshole to his very face.

[marmar]

2. Can we be included in that Treaty of Nice?

Ahh, Europa. Je t'aime.

[IndianaGreen]

3. He also opposes abortion rights

as he matter of fact, he is against all the rights that Poles enjoyed under the Communists, including abortion rights.

[non sociopath skin]

5. Seems to me that the Poles risk replacing one form of totalitarianism ...

... with another (and arguably worse) one.

But, then again, I've worried about that ever since the Solidarity thing.

The EC partners need to do a Haider on this asshole now.

The Skin

[xchrom]

4. it doesn't end does it?

the previous pope, this new one, bushco -- it's like these superstitious hate mongers give explicit permission for other barbarous jerks to pop off with their own personal brand of stupidity.