Leo van Doesburg

  The debate on abortion was stirred up again after the recent leak of the draft proposal of the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Mainly negative reactions to this news circulated in the media. The debate on abortion has become increasingly subjective where, particularly, the pro-life arguments are marginalized and negatively framed. Last February, we saw this in the European Parliament as well where the FEMM committee (Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament) held a public hearing on the ‘Countering the anti-gender movement today to secure a gender equal Europe tomorrow’ , a side event of the Future of Europe Conference. As the title of the hearing suggests, this event was a one-sided story on the topic, seeking to invalidate other opinions and attacking several Christian organizations on their pro-life advocacy and promotion of Christian values. The hearing displayed the immaturity of the debate on abortion and gender issues. There is n...

  MEPs raise concerns on the incitements to violence, terrorism, and antisemitism in Palestinian schoolbooks in the disputed areas. A group of 32 members of Parliament addressed a letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen in which they point at problematic content present in educational materials that are used in Palestinian schools. Their call is strengthened by an adopted text in the EP which condemns the textbooks in which incitements to violence as well as hate and antisemitism are found, as several studies reported. The reoccurrence is unacceptable and ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) have not achieved much. The European Commission and President Von der Leyen are urged to include conditionality on funds to the PA, if necessary changes in textbooks are not made. Furthermore, the letter criticizes the Commission for failing to reject a controversial report by Amnesty International that characterizes Israel an apartheid state .

  In the end of last year, a far-reaching resolution was adopted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the “Gender Aspects and Human Rights Implications of Pornography”. The resolution was accompanied by a report . The conclusion is clear: pornography and its industry are harmful. In the resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly condemns pornography and calls upon its members to protect human rights and gender equality, to ban public porn advertisement and block porn websites in the workplace and public institutions among others. The accompanying report extensively highlights the connection between pornography and violence against women and human trafficking; and stresses the negative effects on men, women, and particularly young people. Although some critique and concern remain, this resolution and report should put the issue of pornography back on the agenda and start a debate among politicians and policymakers to rethink and reconsider the vision on porn...

  On the 9 th of March, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on ‘foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation’ . Although the issue of foreign interference in EU politics is an important topic, the resolution contains some problematic passages which might have serious consequences for Christians and organizations advocating pro-life and family values. These passages pertain to the depiction of opposing opinions on controversial issues as disinformation and hate speech. Furthermore, the resolution calls for measures against religious institutions when instrumentalized to promote foreign states’ interest. Without proper and irrefutable evidence, this risks to harm religious freedoms. Necessary awareness on these matters is advised.

As war is waged in Ukraine, thousands and thousands of people seek safety and cross the border in hope to find it. Humanitarian organizations at the Ukrainian-Romanian border are crying for help , because  at the Romanian border, human traffickers prey on vulnerable Ukrainian women, children, elderly and handicapped people. Also from organizations from the republic of Moldova I have received similar alarming signals. Already, accounts of missing people and rape have been reported. Help is needed to guarantee the protection of refugees. The European Union is preparing different measures and actions to help. Humanitarian organizations fear it takes too long, as help is needed right away. Humanitarian organizations raise their voices of concern. Ukrainian refugees are vulnerable to human traffickers and criminals seeking to lure them into prostitution. The refugees often do not speak Romanian or English and do not have a passport. As most of the refugees are women, children, elderly...

On Friday 4 th of March, the Justice and Home Affairs Council will meet to discuss and vote on the European Commission’s proposal to include hate speech and hate crime onto the list of EU crimes of Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). 

Within a few hours, the year 2020 will be ended. For many, this year probably was a very difficult one. It was determined by the Covid-19 pandemic which may have caused you moments of sadness, fear or even anger.  We were limited in doing things we normally like doing. Even meeting our loved ones during Easter and Christmas was a challenge for many this year. Such limitations can give us a feeling that we are living in a dark days.  But even during these times Christmas still exists, although we celebrated it differently this year. We still were reminded of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a humble stable in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph were taken away from their loved ones and had to go to that city. And when they arrived to Bethlehem, there was no place for Mary to give birth at, and there were no family or loved ones to welcome the baby. Perhaps a few animals in the stable. How lonely this couple could have felt? Nevertheless, God brought shepherds and wise m...

Last week we marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Globally, 1 in 3 women experiences abuse or violence in her lifetime, and that is true for Europe as well. Looking at the statistics, the situation is worrying. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, figures indicate a sharp rise in domestic violence and in sexual abuse and exploitation. In Romania, Aurora Martin from the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between women and men, invited me as a keynote speaker in two important virtual events. One event was a workshop on “Gender Equality: Opportunities and Challenges”, part of a larger anniversary event of the Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University. The second event was focused on “Women’s Safety in Public and Private Spaces”, organized by the Romanian Institute for Human Rights and the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between women and men. Below you will find my contribution to the two events, as well as a list of recommendations to facil...

  Today is the European Day on the Protectionof Children   against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, an initiative by the Council of Europe. This year’s European Day focuses on preventing risky behaviour by children through child self-generated sexual images and/or videos. The COVID crisis has unfortunately exacerbated the problem of child sexual abuse, as the "EU Strategy for a Most Effective Fight Against Child Sex Abuse" highlighted.   Children are spending more time than before online, possibly unsupervised. While this has allowed them to continue their studies and not fall behind in the education process, there are signs that they are at an increased risk of encountering predators.   Actions to address these problems are therefore needed. To that end, on the 9th of December, ECPM Member of the European Parliament Helmut Geuking , as co-chair of the European Parliament Intergroup on Demographic Challenges, Family-Work Balance and Youth Transitions, will ...

In the framework of the European Anti-Trafficking Day, I was invited as a speaker to a large online conference on "Combating Human Trafficking - a Continued Struggle, adapted to the new context generated by the COVID-19 Pandemic". This conference was organized by the Parliamentary Group for the Fight Against Human Trafficking in the Romanian Parliament. See here my presentation: Some of the other speakers were : Angel TÎLVĂR , coordinator of the Parliamentary Group for the Fight against human trafficking, Valiant RICHEY, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Bogdan DESPESCU , Secretary of State, Police Chief-Quaestor of Police, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Cornel FERUȚĂ , Secretary of State for Global Affairs and Diplomatic Strategies Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cristina-Ionela IURIŞNIŢI , Chair of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Olivier ONIDI , EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator, Gabriela SCUTEA , Pr...

Despite opposition from activists pro-choice organisations, the new law proposal has drawn a large positive attention worldwide. In total, 135 international organisations and 33 Slovakian organisations have signed a letter of support for the Slovakian legislative initiative that aims to strengthen the protection of pregnant women. This law has been initiated by a team of 13 Deputies from O’Lano and the Krestanska Unia (Christian Union). You can find a summary of this law here   The signatories come not only from many European countries, but also from Latin America and Africa; it is remarkable the support coming from all over the world. The full text of the letter is as follows: To whom it may concern We, the undersigned NGOs, are writing to ask the Members of the Slovak Parliament to support the Draft Law which Amends and Supplements Act No. 576/2004 Coll. of Laws on Healthcare, Healthcare-related Services. The protection of life, health and human dignity which this law...

W omen who are unintentionally getting pregnant can face a lot of pressure to terminate their pregnancy. There can be economic pressure in providing for the child, but also pressure from partner, family or teachers. A new law is being voted in Slovakia this week which updates the current legislative framework, the main goal being to help women make informed choices and to increase support for them. This law has been initiated by Member of Parliament Anna Záborská (Christian Union, Slovakia). In order to reduce the economic pressure on pregnant women, the law proposes the following: Possibility to obtain financial support after the 4 th month of pregnancy to cover for increased expenses due to the pregnancy. Governmental financial help from childbirth, with no administrative barriers (until now the child had to be alive at least 28 days after birth to be eligible for financial support). The law is also proposing to extend financial aid to all children born in Slovakia. The financia...

The protests in Belarus are impressive. Usually, when protests happen, people tend to become agitated and get angry and violent. Property gets destroyed. Sometimes even, authorities play a role in instigating them. But not in #Belarus. Although the police has been using excessive force against protesters, and there are evidences of the torture of protestors in prison, the people of Belarus remained calm, but determined. Especially brave, since public gatherings have been banned in Belarus since 2011. It is also admirable the care people take of public property, even picking up garbage after the protests. The second thing worth noting is that all these people contesting the results of the latest presidential elections did not give into the pressure to lean one way or another. They are not protesting for the West or against Russia; it hasn’t become politicized. There aren’t any EU flags at the protests after the elections (very different from Ukraine a few years ago); they are carryi...