‘Survivors’ of Far-Right Governments Travel to Brussels, Urging EU Leaders: “Don’t do deals with the far right”
For the first time, a delegation of survivors from Italy, Hungary and Poland who have lived & suffered under far-right governments travel across Europe to meet with EU leaders.
Their open letter, issued during crunch EU leadership talks, warns that far right normalisation “means women dying because of cruel restrictions on abortion…brutal, conspiratorial attacks on the free press and rule of law…families ripped apart.”
Brussels, June 24, 2024: Survivors of far-right governments in Europe are travelling to Brussels this week to meet with top EU parliamentarians, to tell them face-to-face what life is really like under the far right. Ahead of a crunch week for talks on future EU leadership, they have issued an open letter, urging Ursula von der Leyen and other EU figures not to do any deals with the far right.
The survivors, from Italy, Hungary and Poland - the main EU countries where the far right is or has been in power - say they are just “ordinary people who want to live our lives and love our families. But every day is a fight, because of the far right”. The letter goes on to call on leaders to “make sure no one else falls victim to them” and to “stand up for all Europeans.”
The survivors include Italian mothers who under the Meloni government had the birth certificate of their child contested, LGBTQ people from Poland and Hungary who’ve lived near ‘LGBT-Free’ zones, and are being denied legal gender recognition, the family of the woman who died under strict abortion laws in Poland, and an editor who’s lost jobs fighting for free speech in Hungary.
Their trip to Brussels coincides with key talks on the future of the EU and its leadership, with ongoing jockeying for power and influence between the main political groupings - and a push by the far right ECR and Prime Minister Meloni for increased influence. The survivors plan to meet a number of EU leaders from political parties.
Using their own experiences to showcase the dangers of doing any deal with the far right, they warn however that “far-right parties do not have the answers” to Europe's problems, “only scapegoats.” The letter goes on to say that normalising the far right “threatens our families, our freedoms, and our values.”
The survivors behind the open letter are:
- Barbara Skrobol (Poland) - the sister-in-law of Izabela Sajbor, believed to be the first known victim of the de-facto abortion ban in Poland, brought in under the far-right Law and Justice (PiS) government:
“In Europe today, cruel abortion laws should not create a situation where women lose their lives, husbands lose their wives and children lose their mothers. Izabela paid the ultimate price of far right politics. In her name, in the name of the daughter she left behind, in the name of all Polish women, I call on EU leaders: not a single one more.”
- Bart Staszewski (Poland) - a leading Polish LGBT activist and filmmaker, who faced targeted hate attacks from politicians, media, and the courts in Poland, under Law and Justice.
“In the 21st Century, it is astonishing that in Poland, where the shadows of the death camps of WWII are ever-so-present, we let the government instate ‘LGBT-Free Zones.’ But people don’t have a clue how close these ideas are to each other.The time living under PiS as a gay activist was a nightmare, I felt like a second class citizen. I received death threats, to the point I was even scared to leave my house. European leaders must realise that the threat is real, and minorities and marginalised communities will pay the price of a pact with the far-right.”
- Laura Magnarin and Vanessa Santamaria (Italy) - two of the Italian lesbian mothers who had the birth certificate of their child contested (so that Vanessa, as the non-birthing parent would have her name removed and lose her parental rights), following an order by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government that city councils stop registering same-sex parents' children.
“Imagine you are told, from one day to the next, that you could no longer be recognised as the parent of your own child? This is our reality in Italy where the far right has been pushing the LGBTQ+ community back in the closet, regardless of the many struggles we had to face to get there in the first place. Now is not the time to make deals with the people who are putting our children’s most basic rights in jeopardy, now is the time to fight for the restoration of all European’s human rights.”
- Boldizsár Nagy (Hungary) - an editor whose children's book was torn apart by the far-right and labelled “homosexual propaganda” by Prime Minister Orbán’s government, sparking an international debate on the crackdown of freedom of expression in Hungary;
“In Hungary, the government is trying to teach society that being gay or transgender is a shameful, criminal act - for which they deserve to be punished. People who do not live under the far right don’t know how much it can affect your entire life. It’s not just a single issue, or certain communities - everyone is affected. Once a country, let alone a continent, gets into this situation, it can eat up the lives of everyone… Which is why the alliances EU leaders are making today are so crucial.”
- Mónika Magasházi (Hungary) - a trans woman who has not been able to change her gender identity as a result of Hungary's far-right government introducing a new law that ends the legal recognition of trans people.
"For the past four years, I have been facing harassment, discrimination and even violence on an almost daily basis. These measures have led to transgender friends of mine attempting to take their own lives, and even I attempted suicide. But I have two children - 9 and 13-years-old - and for them, and for transgender people across Europe, we have to fight. EU leaders must stand up for all our rights."
Notes to editors
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For further questions and interview requests with the survivors, please contact media@avaaz.org or +33 6 67 69 33 82 (Laure Fourquet)
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Survivors will be
available
for sit down interviews in Brussels
on Tuesday 25th of June in the afternoon
and
Wednesday 26th of June in the morning.
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