The EU executive has previously taken legal action and withdrawn funds from Hungary for a similar law.
A Russian-inspired law banning LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in Bulgarian schools has sparked indignation from rights groups in Europe, who say the bill is a cloak-and-dagger attack against human rights in the European Union.
These groups are calling on the European Commission to swiftly start infringement procedures for what they see as Sofia’s breach of the values that bind the bloc’s 27 member countries together.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Euronews that the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, had sent a letter to the Bulgarian Minister of Education and Science, Galin Tsokov, on August 13 asking for further information on the legislation.
The Commission “will analyse whether the legislation is aligned with EU law,” the spokesperson added.
The bill amends a previous education law and makes it illegal to “promote” ideas and views “related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or the determination of gender identity other than biological.”
Bulgarian lawmakers also adopted another amendment which defines “non-traditional sexual orientation” as “different from the generally accepted and established notions (…) of attraction between persons of the opposite sex.”
The legal changes were tabled by the far-right and pro-Russian Vazrazhdane or Revival party, which sits with the likes of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the newly-formed Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group in the European Parliament.
Surprisingly, parties belonging to the political centre-ground backed the move, including the European People’s Party-affiliated GERB party, the liberal DPS party and the socialist BSP.
The bill was overwhelmingly passed with 159 votes in favour, 22 against and 12 abstentions, with Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev giving his seal of approval on Thursday, despite pleas from civil society for his veto.
Bulgaria consistently ranks among the worst performers in the EU in upholding the rights of LGBTQ+ people and has failed to respond to a 2023 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights calling on it to legally recognise same-sex relationships.
LGBTQ+ community made ‘scapegoats’
Critics say it’s a further setback for LGBTQ+ freedoms in Bulgaria and a frontal attack on the principles of human rights and human dignity as enshrined in EU law.
NGO ILGA-Europe has called on the Commission to “assess” the Bulgarian bill’s “compatibility with EU law”.
“Given the extremely fast-tracked procedure for this law, its clear political aim is to scapegoat LGBTI people and legislate against their human rights. It is incompatible with Council of Europe and EU standards on law-making and non-discrimination,” ILGA’s executive director, Chaber, said.
“We’re urging the European Commission to start infringement procedures because there is a clear breach here of EU law and EU treaties,” Rémy Bonny, executive director of rights groups Forbidden Colours, told Euronews, adding that children’s right to access “comprehensive, safe and informative sex education” is at stake.
He also warns that it signals Bulgaria is prioritising “Russian values over European values,” with the law clearly inspired by a 2013 Moscow bill banning gay propaganda in classrooms.
ADVERTISEMENT“It’s very clear that what Russia introduced in 2013 is what Bulgaria is introducing today. Bulgaria is following the Russian playbook of scapegoating LGBTI people,” Bonny said.
Hungary was also accused of copy-pasting the Russian law in 2021, with its “Child Protection Law” curtailing the portrayal of LGBTQ+ people in schools.
The bill aimed to limit children’s exposure to material that “promoted” homosexuality, gender reassignment and the LGBTQ+ community in classrooms and the media.
It saw Brussels launch legal action against Budapest, with 15 EU countries backing the case. To this day, the EU executive is withholding nearly €12 billion from Hungary’s allocated share of cohesion funds and most of its €10.4-bn recovery and resilience plan over a raft of rule of law violations, including the Child Protection Law.
ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission has refused to comment until the bill becomes legislation, but a spokesperson said last week that the executive remains “steadfast in its commitment to tackling discrimination in equalities and challenges faced by LGBTIQ individuals.”
“We have a clear stance on non-discrimination and we stand up for a Union where you can be who you are,” the spokesperson added.
Political setback for Sofia
Bulgaria has been plunged into political paralysis since June’s inconclusive elections, with President Radev last week selecting Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva to form a caretaker government.
There are concerns the anti-LGBTQ+ law has been weaponised as an electoral tool as the country prepares for yet another snap parliamentary election in October, the seventh poll in just over three years.
ADVERTISEMENTAny reprisals from Brussels for the law would strain its relations with Sofia and further derail its drawn-out bid to join the eurozone. The country previously scrapped a January 2024 target to formally join the bloc’s currency.
Bonny told Euronews that rights groups would also seek the freezing of EU funds to Bulgaria in the fields of education and culture, including Erasmus+ funds.
The European Commissioner for Education and Culture Iliana Ivanova herself hails from Bulgaria and the GERB party, whose lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the bill.
