MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. The EU leadership has whittled down the protection of Europe’s fundamental principles of equality and dignity as a legal foundation to mere gender politics, while ignoring the numerous violations of political and social rights in EU member states, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.
The diplomat recalled that last week President of the European Council Charles Michel weighed in on Hungary’s law on banning LGBT propaganda aimed at minors, claiming: "In the European Union, we do not discriminate. We integrate. That’s the meaning of Article 2 of our Treaty."
In the light of this, the diplomat voiced confidence that such a narrow interpretation of the legal basis for European unity is hardly in line with its initial meaning. "Something tells me that the architects of a united post-war Europe, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer, did not dream that their ideas on equality and dignity would be interpreted by the EU leadership in the 21st century in this sexual context, adapting gender to the principles of European unity," she stressed.
Zakharova noted that Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union states that the alliance is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.
"For more than 20 years, non-citizens of Estonia and Latvia have been in line for ‘integration’ under Article 2. So, tell them how the EU does not discriminate but integrates and that their situation is in the spirit and letter of Article 2," the diplomat contended. "Migrants and refugees know very well about the basics of non-discriminatory integration after the EU’s democratic interventions in the life of their sovereign states," she pointed out.