The largest gay pride parade in central and eastern Europe brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday at a time when Poland's LGBT rights movement is the target of a government campaign depicting it as a threat.
Diplomats from the United States, Canada and other Western countries continued a recent tradition of joining the festive Equality Parade to show support for a community experiencing leaps of progress and a backlash around the world.
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The largest gay pride parade in central and eastern Europe brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday at a time when Poland's LGBT rights movement is the target of a government campaign depicting it as a threat.
"Not everyone has to go to the Equality Parade but everyone should respect minority rights," Trzaskowski told the crowd from a parade float. "It's really important for me that Warsaw be open, that Warsaw be tolerant."
And on the eve of the parade, a far-right journalist on public television, Rafal Ziemkiewicz, sent chills down the spines of the LGBT community.
"His words are read by hundreds of thousands of people," he said. "It's possible that one of those people will take his word about shooting at LGBT people literally."
Hubert Sobecki, head of Love Does Not Exclude, a group seeking marriage equality, said the situation is particularly frightening for those young people struggling with their sexual identity. He said some are afraid to come out and some straight kids are being bullied because they are perceived as gay.
"There is lots of hate in the public media and by the ruling party, but you also have a growing movement of people realizing we are fighting for our lives," Sobecki said. "This movement is not about luxury or privilege, it's about the privilege of staying alive when you are a teenager. It's about survival."
In a first, the Polish capital's mayor also participated. Opening the parade, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski noted that it is now common for cities across Europe to support LGBT pride marches.
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
"Not everyone has to go to the Equality Parade but everyone should respect minority rights," Trzaskowski told the crowd from a parade float. "It's really important for me that Warsaw be open, that Warsaw be tolerant."
While many Poles in Warsaw and other cities have increasingly grown supportive of gay rights, a backlash is also underway. In recent months, officials from Poland's right-wing ruling party have portrayed the LGBT rights movement, citing in particular the movement's calls for sex education that stresses tolerance of minorities, as a threat to families, children and society.
Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski recently called the LGBT rights movement a foreign import that threatened the nation's identity. In conservative areas, town councils have been declaring their municipalities "LGBT free."
A man takes part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
And on the eve of the parade, a far-right journalist on public television, Rafal Ziemkiewicz, sent chills down the spines of the LGBT community.
In a tweet, he said "one must shoot at LGBT" people, before adding "not in the literal sense of course — but these are not people of good will or defenders of anybody's rights, (the movement is) a new mutation of Bolsheviks and Nazis."
Slava Melnyk, head of the Campaign Against Homophobia, warned about the possible consequences of such provocative language.
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
"His words are read by hundreds of thousands of people," he said. "It's possible that one of those people will take his word about shooting at LGBT people literally."
Uschi Pawlik, who was marching with her LGBT Christian group, Faith and Rainbow, described feeling excluded in the conservative and mostly Roman Catholic nation.
"We feel that the government has made a scapegoat of us. Many of us feel excluded by our own country and our own church," Pawlik, 40, said. "So it is painful, but many of us think this is a reason to fight, and not the moment to give up."
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
Hubert Sobecki, head of Love Does Not Exclude, a group seeking marriage equality, said the situation is particularly frightening for those young people struggling with their sexual identity. He said some are afraid to come out and some straight kids are being bullied because they are perceived as gay.
Call centers have been working to prevent suicides, but they don't always succeed, he said.
Last month a transgender girl killed herself by jumping from a bridge in Warsaw. When a group of people went later with a rainbow flag to the bridge to honor her, they were assaulted.
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
"There is lots of hate in the public media and by the ruling party, but you also have a growing movement of people realizing we are fighting for our lives," Sobecki said. "This movement is not about luxury or privilege, it's about the privilege of staying alive when you are a teenager. It's about survival."
LGBT rights became a key topic of public debate earlier this year when Trzaskowski, from the centrist opposition party Civic Platform, issued an LGBT rights declaration. In one point, it set out the city's commitment to try and help find shelter for gay youth rejected by their parents. In another, he promised to incorporate World Health Organization guidelines on sex and tolerance education into Warsaw's school system.
Poland's education minister, who was sworn in Tuesday, described the LGBT rights declaration as an attempt to groom children for pedophiles and said sex education is the responsibility of families only.
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
By seizing on the issue, the ruling conservatives have managed to energize their base and divide the political opposition.
Law and Justice won an overwhelming victory in elections to the European Parliament last month.
Many in the opposition have concluded that supporting LGBT rights did not help them and are now seeking to back away from that issue ahead of national elections in the fall.
In neighboring Lithuania, an estimated 10,000 people joined a pride parade in the capital, Vilnius. The event took place without incident, a change from the city's first parade in 2008, which included brick throwing and mounted police using tear gas.
In Warsaw, protesters blared loud church music as the parade passed by, but it too, went off without incident.
Warsaw's pride parade is also being answered Sunday with a "March for Life and the Family" in 130 Polish towns. The anti-abortion event will open Sunday with a Mass for children, and the theme this year is protecting children from premature sexualization.
Jari Tanner contributed from Helsinki.
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday that Europe could “die” if it fails to build its own robust defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on, or if it fails to undertake major trade and economic reforms to compete with China and the U.S.
Macron urged Europeans to become more ambitious in a fast-changing world to face the challenges of war, fierce trade competition, energy scarcity, climate change and increasing authoritarianism.
In a nearly two-hour speech at Sorbonne University in Paris, Macron said that the continent is divided and “too slow and lacks ambition” at a time when the 27-member European Union needs to become a superpower, defend its own borders and speak with one voice if it wants to survive and thrive.
“Our Europe today is mortal,” Macron said. “It can die and that depends solely on our choices,” he added. He called on people to make those choices now because, “it’s today that Europe is between war and peace.”
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, is an existential threat and Europe isn't armed enough to defend itself when “confronted by a power like Russia that has no inhibitions, no limits,” Macron said.
‘Our ability to ensure our security is at stake," Macron said. “Russia mustn’t be allowed to win.”
Europe now has the “good fortune” of having the Biden administration’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, Macron said. But, in a year of key elections around Europe, in the U.S. and elsewhere, support may fragment or disappear entirely, he added.
“Europe must become capable of defending its interests, with its allies by our side whenever they are willing, and alone if necessary,” Macron said.
Strong armies, a European rapid intervention program and force, tanks, a missile shield and other weapons, produced in Europe, will need the support of “a joint diplomatic force that will speak with one voice and build bridges with Africa and Latin America,” the French leader said.
“Only then will Europe show that it's not a United States’ lap dog, and that it also knows how to talk to other regions of the world,” he said.
France has been a firm supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, and Macron has often clashed with other Western leaders as he has insisted that Europe must stand by the country at any cost. The French president alarmed European leaders by saying recently that sending Western troops into Ukraine to shore up its defenses shouldn’t be ruled out.
Referring to trade practices of China and the U.S., Macron said “the two world powers have decided not to respect the rules of global trade” by shoring up protections and subsides while Europe’s industry remains open and is stuck in overregulation.
“Let’s do the same, we are in competition,” Macron said.
“We must buy faster, we must produce more and we must buy more that is made in Europe. That is key,” Macron said.
Thursday's speech came less than two months before a pivotal European Parliament election.
Macron, an avid advocate of a united and assertive Europe, also rallied support for his centrist Renaissance party before the June 6-9 vote as far-right parties lead the moderate coalitions in the polls. He called for safeguarding democratic values as the “authoritarian model” was becoming “more popular” across the continent.
The war in Ukraine and immigration are top priorities for European Union voters, according to polls. Far-right parties have gained support by criticizing Macron’s government policies on both issues. Macron acknowledged divisions on immigration policies, including on asylum and deportation rules for those who have arrived to Europe illegally.
He emphasized the need for an effective response and Europe-wide coordination for curbing illegal immigration, closer cooperation with immigrants' countries of origin and a unified, relentless fight against human traffickers.
Macron criticized the idea of striking an agreement, as Britain as done, with countries in Africa and elsewhere to transfer immigrants there.
“This is a betrayal of our values that ultimately leads us to dependency on other counties,” Macron said.
The British government earlier this week approved a law allowing the deportation of some migrants who enter the country illegally to Rwanda.
Macron lost his majority in France’s most influential house of parliament, the National Assembly, after the 2022 election to the far-left coalition and the far-right National Rally party.
The social situation in France remains tense as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games this summer, amid protests from teachers and police officers, and farmer demonstrations in recent weeks. The protests follow huge rallies last year against Macron’s ultimately successful proposal to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France. Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives to deliver a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, April 18, 2024. European Union leaders on Wednesday debated a new "European Competitiveness Deal" aimed at helping the 27-nation bloc close the gap with Chinese and American rivals amid fears the region's industries will otherwise be left behind for good. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
