The European Union (EU) aims to support its partner countries (e.g. Belarus, Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine, Georgia, etc.) in political, economic and social processes.
These partners are part of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and they seek to either become members of the Union or to get closer to it. Some of these partner countries might cherish the EU and its membership but in fact, not everything is ideal within the Union. A few EU member states like Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary still face issues regarding the protection of human rights, the rule of law and the freedom of expression. These internal challenges might hinder the enthusiasm that the partner countries have to either join the Union or to become its allies.
Georgia, for instance, is a pro-European country. According to the recent polls conducted by the National Democratic Institute, over 83 percent of Georgians want to be part of Europe. Some might think that Georgians might not be affected by the internal challenges of the EU (especially, when it comes to the human rights). Older generation might not be tolerant and might not care about inclusion and freedom of speech. However, that is not the case with the youth who might get pessimistic towards the EU because of its internal and external inconsistency in terms of protection of the human rights at the EU level [National Democratic Institute, 2019].
According to Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the European countries must embody the human rights and ensure that they are protected within the Union. “The EU has to remain the region in the world that makes sure that it protects human rights internally, as much as it asks others to protect them in their own regions and their own countries,” [The Graduate Institute Geneva, 2018] he said.
Poland is one of the EU member states that still faces issues regarding LGBTQ rights and gender equality. The Polish government is using its media allies to discriminate LGBTQ community and restrict their freedom of speech. They are using not only the media but other state resources as well to infringe the fundamental human rights. The Polish ruling party strives to misrepresent gender equality attempts as well and promotes them as attacks on “traditional family values.” [Human Rights Watch, 2019a]
For instance, the Polish government appointed a Catholic theology professor as an adviser for a new sex education curriculum change. According to the theologist, contraception causes “hedonism [sensual self-indulgence], sex addiction and a tendency to be unfaithful” [Human Rights Watch, 2019,b].
The appointment of this particular person certainly puts the sex education curriculum in Poland into a conservative religious framework. The Council of Europe prioritizes the importance of accurate teaching of sex education that would help to reduce maternal mortality, early pregnancy and HIV. The Polish government has an obligation under the country’s constitution, the international human rights law and the EU’s internal human rights rules to have gender equality and protected human rights [Council of Europe, 2014].
Bulgaria, one more EU member state, deals poorly not only with human rights but with the institutions that try to enforce the protection of the human rights in the country. On Sept. 30, 2019, the Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO), one of the members of the ruling coalition, sent a letter to the General Prosecutor and asked to deregister the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) as an organization. According to the letter, the BHC “directly and indirectly exerts pressure… and engages in unconstitutional, unlawful, immoral and openly anti-Bulgarian activities.” [Human Rights Watch, 2019b].
This antipathy towards the BHC comes from the case that involved an Australian citizen, Jock Palfreeman. He was convicted in 2009 for the murder of a Bulgarian student. According to Palfreeman, he was defending himself. He received a legal aid and other supporting means from BHC and the Sofia Appellate Court granted Palfreeman a conditional early release from jail. The Supreme Court of Cassation of Bulgaria was asked by VMRO to reexamine the decision because the two out of three judges on the Appellate Court have links with the BHC. Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international organization that investigates and reports the abuses of these fundamental rights around the world, calls upon Bulgaria’s public officials to “refrain from interfering with and obstructing the work of the BHC and other human rights organizations in the country” [Human Rights Watch,2019c].
HRW addressed the EU institutions as well to publicly condemn attacks on organizations doing legitimate work in Bulgaria. It is extremely important for the EU to empower the organizations like BHC because human rights cannot be imposed from outside. It is the local bodies that make the difference. Also, the EU must engage with difficult governments like the Bulgarian government to prioritize the human rights and its importance in the country.
Hungary is also one of those EU member states that faces issues regarding human rights, democracy and freedom of expression. It is having a number of problems including direct and indirect media ownership, stigmatizing the work of civic society organizations, attacking academic institutions and more importantly, in our case, fueling xenophobic and homophobic rhetoric towards immigrants. The Hungarian stance in relation to immigrants does not match with the position of the EU. The Hungarian police forcefully removes foreign nationals from the country, the government denies distribution of food to asylum seekers and portrays them as dangerous people that will harm the future of the EU. [The New York Times, 2018].
The EU protects the fundamental rights of the EU citizens and promotes these rights around the world. But it is extremely important for the Union to ensure that human rights are protected inside and outside of its territories as its founding principles are liberty, democracy, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
The EU commits to promote the rights of women, children, minorities. It opposes death penalty, torture or discrimination and defends human rights through an active collaboration with members states, other partner countries and international organizations [UNOHCHR, 2019]. It is more than crucial for the EU to focus on its internal challenges that harm the Union’s core values, specifically, the problems that are related to the human rights. First of all, the Union shall embody the human rights internally. That way, the EU will be perceived more optimistically by its partner countries and it will become a stronger cooperation. The Union shall empower the local institutions in their member states to act effectively and engage with governments to respect the fundamental human rights. Moreover, the Union shall defend the universality of human rights to have a peaceful, mutual and equal environment in different societies of the world.
REFERENCES
Council of Europe [2014]. “Sex/Sexuality Education – Personal Development, Prevention of Discrimination and Violence.” https://www.coe.int/en/web/pestalozzi/sexed –
Human Rights Watch [2019a]. “Polish Court Rebukes ‘LGBT-free zone’ Stickers.” https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/01/polish-court-rebukes-lgbt-free-zone-stickers
– Human Rights Watch [2019b]. “Polish Parliament Should Scrap Bill Against Sex Education.” https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/18/polish-parliament-should-scrap-bill
– Human Rights Watch [2019c]. “Bulgaria: Human Rights Group Under Threat.” https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/02/bulgaria-human-rights-group-under-threatagainst-sex-education
National Democratic Institute [2019]. “NDI Poll: EU and NATO Support at a Five-Year High in Georgia.” https://www.ndi.org/publications/ndi-poll-eu-and-nato-support-five-year-high-georgia-urgent-action-environment-and
The Graduate Institute Geneva [2018]. “How can EU lead world in human rights?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCXG-lKtv18
The New York Times [2018]. “Orban and His Allies Cement Control of Hungary’s News Media.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/world/europe/hungary-orban-media.html
UNOHCHR [2019], The European Union and International Human Rights Law. https://europe.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/EU_and_International_Law.pdf