During a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, a debate was held on the 2023 annual report on human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy in this area. ECR MEPs Ryszard Czarnecki and Beata Kempa spoke during the discussion.
Ryszard Czarnecki noted that, for political reasons, the report avoids mentioning countries responsible for numerous human rights violations, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. At the same time, the MEP supported the provisions concerning Ukraine and the need to enforce human rights clauses in international agreements. “This is particularly important in relations between the European Union and countries in Africa, as well as parts of Latin America and Asia,” noted the former Vice President of the European Parliament.
Czarnecki stated that the ECR Group also disagrees with the ideological treatment of migrant and refugee issues. According to the PiS MEP, human rights issues should not be raised in every European Union policy. “It’s better to speak firmly about human rights, but not at every opportunity, because that leads to a certain ‘inflation,’ and important issues don’t respond well to inflation,” he commented.
Beata Kempa emphasized that the report in question is very important, but it fails to mention the growing persecution of Christians around the world. “About 365 million people are subjected to various types of attacks and harassment solely because of their faith in Jesus Christ. The situation is getting worse year by year,” Kempa noted, criticizing the EU’s lack of response to these attacks. “Meanwhile, persecution of the LGBT community is mentioned 16 times,” the MEP noted.
As she explained, the only mention of Christians is found under the “religion” section, which guarantees the right not to profess any religion. “So show us the statistics on the persecution of people around the world simply for being atheists,” said Kempa.
Furthermore, according to the Polish MEP, there is a lack of clauses making the implementation of EU trade agreements contingent on respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of religion. In this context, she mentioned a situation that took place in Pakistan, where yesterday a young Christian man was sentenced to life in prison simply for posting a comment on Facebook. “We must also address this in our trade agreements with Pakistan,” she urged.
