Leo van Doesburg

Now it is up to the Romanian Voters to vote on the 6th or the 7th of October. More than two years ago, 3 million Romanians requested a referendum to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Finally, the hurdles for the organization of the referendum were removed. After the last vote in the Romanian senate with 107 votes in favour, 13 against and 7 abstentions and following the approval of the Romanian Constitutional Court, the Government set the date for the referendum: the 6th and the 7th of October. If there is a majority for YES with a minimum turnout of 6 million (30% of 18 million voters), then the constitution will be amended. Following Croatia and Slovenia, now also in Romania a Citizens’ Initiative has been established to request an amendment to the constitution so that marriage can be defined as a   union between one man and one woman. In both Slovenia and Croatia, the referendum took place and has resulted in amendments to the   constitution. The...

Between 25-28 May 2017, I had the honor of participating in the Budapest Family Summit that consisted of four important pro – family and pro – life events, as a guest of the Hungarian government. The four events were: the Hungarian Demographic Forum , the World Congress of families , the International Forum of Families and the One Of Us Conference . I had the privilege to speak at the Hungarian Demographic Forum which was organized by the Hungarian Government. I participated in a panel that consisted of members of the (European) Parliament and Government Commissioner  Máriusz Révész. It  was chaired by Bence Rétvári, Deputy Minister of Human Capacities. In my remarks at the Demographic Forum, I made a reference to the demographic situation for families in Europe today and underlined the need to uphold the traditional definition of marriage , press for the respect of the sovereignty of the family and rethink our economic model . You can find the full text of my ...

More than 550 participants joined the "international forum on Cooperation of politicans and civil society to protect Christian values”   Last week, After the 5th Ukrainian Prayer Brea k fast , around 550 p oliticians, repres entatives of NGOs, and churches gathered toget her around the international forum on the "Cooperation of Politicians and Civil Society in the Promotion of Christian Values on the International Arena". The forum was organised by ECPM and the faction al Parliamentary Group "for s pirituality, morality and health for the Ukraine" . Distinguished speakers and experts from all over the world, as well as local contributors discussed on the issue of the Promotion of Christian Values and the ways the collaboration between decision makers, academics and civil society can become more effective. On the final day of the conference, participants signed the "Declaration on the Establishment of a "European Christian Coalition"....

On December 1, the people of Croatia voted in favour of the natural marriage. The outcome of the referendum in Croatia is clear: 65.8% of voters chose to preserve marriage as a union of a woman and a man, by asking their government to recognize this as such in the Croatian constitution, while 33,5% voted against. The referendum was called for by the Croatian Citizen initiative "In the Name of the Family" by collecting more than 700,000 signatures. On the 27th of November, the European Christian Political Foundation (ECPF) co-hosted a roundtable on this referendum in the Croatian Parliament. Maria Hildingsson (FAFCE) and Heiner Studer (President EVP, former MP Switzerland) addressed Croatian MP’s with their views on marriage (Hildingsson) and referenda (Studer). We are pleased with the choice of the majority of Croatian citizens and urges the Croatian government to facilitate this clear wish of the population as soon as possible. Please find below the press release of E...

”Do you think that the Constitution should define marriage as a union between a woman and a man?” was the question that within 15 days gained about 20% of voting population′s support, or exactly: 749.316 signatures. Although this should be more than enough to legally call for a national referendum, this action faced a lot of pressure from different sides. Please read here an article written by Slavko Vukmanov, member of the Croatian political party HRAST and his personal impressions about the actions and pressure they faced:

In spite of pressure, mass demonstrations to preserve marriage are continuing. A new massive demonstration took place on Sunday in Paris, France, against the legislative proposal to legalize marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. While official police statements spoke of an estimated 300,000 protesters, the organizers said that some 1.4 million people took part in the demonstration. Even though the media try to frame the demonstrations in negative ways and the police (under the French Ministry of Internal Affairs) tries to forge the real number of protestors, the French people are determined that the institute of marriage and the children’s rights need to remain protected. (Article by Leo van Doesburg and Jonathan van Tongeren) Please find an analysis about the pressures here :

Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in the massive demonstrations that took place in Paris yesterday against the legalization of same-sex marriage & adoption. Organizers of the manifestation have estimated that around 800.000 people were gathered to ask for the withdrawal of the draft bill and the initiation of a open public debate on the issue. In spite of this demonstration being considered one of the largest in years, however, the French government refuses to take protesters' requests into consideration, has no intention of organizing a referendum and is determined to go ahead with marriage reform in spite of massive opposition. More about the background of the demonstrations you find here --

The Venice Commission is currently reviewing the Hungarian cardinal law on the Protection of Families. This law has been strongly criticised, especially for defining family as “based on the marriage of a man and a woman,” and for protecting human life since conception  and concludes that this law respects the letter and the spirit of international treaties on family and follows the legitimate aim to set foundations for the recovery of the country through the protection of life and family. The  European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) submitted a Memorandum [1] to the Venice Commission demonstrating that this law respects the letter and the spirit of international treaties on family and follows the legitimate aim to set foundations for the recovery of the country through the protection of life and family. By: Grégor Puppinck, PhD, Director of the ECLJ ( http://www.eclj.org )

Strasbourg , 15 March 2012. In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of GAS et DUBOIS c. France (Requête n o 25951/07) , the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of the European Convention on Human Rights by the limitation of MPA techniques to heterosexual couples and by the French refusal to allow a woman to adopt her same-sex partner’s child. (Source: Grégor Puppinck , Director of the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) See further information here

As a reaction on the Green Paper of the European Commission concerning the automatic recognition of civil status documents (see the article on " Will the EU define marriage "), the European Humanist Federation did not comment to the questions asked by the Commission. Instead, the Federation is attacking the ECPM, CARE, Human Dignity Watch, the World Youth Alliance, and Salt and Light. Calling us: "efficiently organised and well financed but unrepresentative minority religious pressure groups whose aim appears to be to stifle the initiative at birth." And further: " It is our opinion that they are not representative even of most Christians in Europe. " Their reaction on the green paper you find here

The European Christian Political Foundation ( www.ecpf.info ) wants to draw your attention to a report done by European Dignity Watch ( www.europeandignitywatch.org ) on a new proposal from the European Commission regarding the automatic recognition of civil status documents that could lead to a situation in which the EU member states will no longer define marriage. Instead, member states could be forced to recognize forms of “marriage”, civil partnerships, same-sex adoption and other practices, even if these contradict their national laws and public order. European Dignity Watch issued an analysis of the Greenpaper, which you find below. The analysis is meant to facilitate answers that can be sent to the European Commission as reaction to the public consultation (Green Paper). The ECPM asks all decision makers on national and European level to take note of this report and take action in their own political body. If the ideas in this green paper would become EU policy, all action taken...