Homophobes in the Rada ruined Ukraine's chances of getting a visa-free regime with the EU
The Parliament of Ukraine, writes the publication EuroActiv, yesterday November 5 discredited the former Soviet republic's chances of gaining visa-free travel to most EU countries by blocking legislation that would have banned discrimination against gays in the workplace.
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We are talking about an amendment to the Labor Code, which prohibits refusal to hire due to HIV-AIDS, race, physical defects or sexual orientation.
Only 117 lawmakers in the 450-member parliament supported the changes demanded in Brussels, including this amendment to the Labor Code.
This amendment was rejected by the ruling coalition itself: “In a country with a thousand-year Christian history, we simply cannot allow this,” said deputy Pavel Unguryan. In his opinion, this ambiguous amendment may not lead to the fight against discrimination, but, on the contrary, to a special status for sexual minorities and LGBT communities. “Today, special status for sexual minorities is simply unacceptable,” said a member of the Popular Front party.
The European Commission is tentatively due to decide next month whether Ukraine has met its obligations to receive visa-free travel within Europe. “Some analysts,” writes the Western publication, “believe that the executive body of the European Union, which is struggling with the migrant crisis, will use Ukraine’s refusal to pass legislation as an excuse to close itself off from additional influx of people into the EU.”
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