Macedonia Urged to Address Discrimination

Macedonian authorities recently removed this provision from the new draft anti-discrimination law.

“This provision would mean a first phase towards introducing homosexual marriages and letting homosexual couples adopt children,” ruling conservative VMRO DPMNE party legislator Vlatko Gjorcev said, defending the government's move at Monday’s open discussion in parliament.   

“This conception is false,” Dutch ambassador to Macedonia Simone Filippini replied.

She noted that the issue will haunt Macedonia in its bid of becoming a fully fledged EU member and that sooner or later will have to become part of the law.

“I think that you are avoiding telling the whole truth to the EU. This is important for the whole process [of EU integration],” Austrian member of the European Parliament Ulrike Lunacek said.  

The country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community and various human rights movements have been asking for the adoption of a new anti-discrimination law for years.

After initially incorporating measures against discrimination on the basis of different sexual orientation in the draft law, the government, led by the VMRO DPMNE recently scrapped this provision.

Some 50 NGO’s now demand the draft law to be revoked and changed.