MEPs debate on Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia. Opening statements by Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister and by Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality.

Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia: opening statements by Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister and by Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality

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SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation to this debate. The Czech Presidency deeply deplores the terrible attack at an LGBTQ establishment in Bratislava, which caused the death of two young people on Wednesday 12th of October and the hateful anti-Semitic manifesto which led to this horrific act of unjustifiable violence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Let me be very clear from the start: there is no place for homophobia anywhere in Europe. Sexual orientation and gender identity are aspects of who we are. No one should feel a need to conceal their true selves in order to avoid discrimination, hate or even violence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, All citizens of a union are equal and should live freely, safely and without discrimination, regardless of their sex, race, colour, religion or sexual orientation. These are principles and values solemnly enshrined in the EU treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU legislation. They are not up for discussion.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Our common European commitment to decency, tolerance and equal treatment is the very foundation of the idea of a just society. This is a source of pride of Europeans and for good reason. It is also necessary not to overlook the anti-Semitic motifs that are expressed in his manifesto. There is no place for anti-Semitism anywhere in Europe, and the Czech Presidency is determined to keep working on fighting this form of hatred.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, If we look over the past year, progress is undoubtedly made on LGBTQ rights. However, the most recent survey by the Fundamental Rights Agency has shown that as many as 43% LGBTQ persons feel discriminated against. One in ten LGBTQ respondents were physically or sexual attacked, and trans and intersex respondents experience attacked at higher rate. What makes matters even worse is the fact that most of these injustices go unreported.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Overall, across the EU, only 11% of discrimination suffered is reported, and only a small percentage of hate motivated incidents are reported. At the same time, we have seen in recent years sharp rise in hate speech and hate crime in Europe. Those developments are linked to a number of factors, including disinformation, as well as the growing use of internet, including social media.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, EU action to address the dissemination of hatred content, including all forms of violent extremism and terrorism online, is therefore particularly relevant in this regard. Much has been done to cooperate with internet companies, but this cooperation needs to be stepped up. In particular, more information about how they handle borderline content would be useful.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, The Council has discussed violent extremism and terrorism in light of the increasing polarisation in our societies. The conclusion is clear. We need further efforts to prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism, and we as politicians should lead by example. So the discourse that somehow covers those things that I mentioned should not be a part of the political discourse in a democratic society the way it was described.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister, So how to address the situation that is currently raising, not only on the Internet? We need to cooperate in the EU and internationally to counter those extremist narratives, always in full respect for the principles of freedom of speech and expression, as requested by European Parliament in some of its resolutions. The Commission proposed the extension of the list of EU crimes to cover hate speech and hate crime. The Presidency will continue to seek the necessary consensus to reach an agreement. Thank you very much for your attention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, Thank you, President, honourable Members, Minister, I'm really grateful that you have included this debate on growing hate crimes against LGBTQ people across Europe on the agenda, considering the recent homophobic murders in Bratislava. My thoughts are with the families and friends of 23 year old Matus and 26 year old Juraj, the victims of the shooting in Slovakia, but also with the LGBTQ community all over the world.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, This attack reminds us of this summer's terrorist attack prior to Oslo Pride killing two and injuring several others and other attacks that have targeted the LGBTQ community in recent years. These murders are a threat to our societies, built on human rights and equality.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, In recent years, hate speech and hate crime targeting persons based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, but also targeting organisations supporting LGBTQ rights, have increased globally, including across the European Union. As we have already heard from the Minister, the 2019 FRA LGBTI survey clearly documents that one in ten LGBTI respondents in the EU were physically or sexually attacked in the five years before the survey because they are LGBTQ.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, Trans and intersex respondents experienced attacks at up to twice the rate of the rest of the community, while only one in five incidents of physical or sexual violence was reported to any organisation. The European Commission is determined to ensure that everyone feels safe and free to be who they are and love who they want, wherever they are. The Commission has taken important steps to end the exclusion of and discrimination and violence against sexual and gender minorities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, Two years ago, we adopted the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, which combines targeted actions with the mainstreaming of LGBTIQ equality in all policy areas. As part of the strategy, the Commission adopted last December a communication accompanied by a draft Council decision to extend the current list of EU crimes to hate crime and hate speech.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, If this Council decision is adopted by Member States, the Commission will be able, in a second step, to propose secondary legislation, which would allow the EU to criminalise other forms of hate speech and hate crime than the ones currently laid down in the framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, The Commission is also focussing on creating dialogue and exchanges of good practices amongst Member States. We have set up an LGBTIQ expert subgroup which meets regularly and agreed on guidelines for strategies and action plans to enhance LGBTIQ equality, which also covers hate crimes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, And on hate speech and hate crime, since 2016, a high level group on combating hate speech and hate crime provides a forum for dialogue and good practice exchange amongst national authorities. The work has focussed on better support of victims, stepping up hate crime, training for law enforcement and enhancing reporting and hate crime data collection. The high level group has just adopted key guiding principles on cooperation between civil society organisations and law enforcement in particular to address the persistent underreporting of hate crimes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, This summer, these two work strands came together in a dedicated session on tackling hate crime and hate speech against LGBTIQ people. The sessions served to highlight promising practices from both Member States and civil society organisations. The Commission also continues to provide funding under the Citizens Equality Rights and Values Programme to initiatives aimed to tackle hate crime and hate speech, as well as to enhance LGBTIQ equality.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality, Equality bodies can play a key role to collect reports of discriminatory acts. This is why we will soon present a new proposal on equality bodies to strengthen their independence and to make sure that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, at least in the field of employment and occupation, is part of the remit in all EU Member States. We continue to push for the adoption of the 2008 proposal for a horizontal anti-discrimination directive that would extend protection of discrimination to all other areas of life. Dear members, hate has no place in Europe. All institutions must join forces to put an end to it. Thank you.

Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia: opening statements by Ivan BARTOŠ, Czech Deputy Prime Minister and by Helena DALLI, European Commissioner for Equality

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