Prime Minister Tusk assures that the EU will not impose gay marriage legislation on Poland. Alternative solutions considered in Warsaw
Donald Tusk and Ursula von der Leyen, Photo: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk assured on Wednesday that the EU “cannot impose anything” on his country, after the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) decided on Tuesday that all member states of the community block must legally recognize marriages between people of the same sex concluded in another EU member state, EFE agency reports, Agerpres reports.
Speaking at a press conference in Warsaw, Tusk said that “Poland will respect the verdicts and decisions of the European courts”, but added that when same-sex couples married in other countries arrive in Poland, “we will want to treat them with full respect and we will have to do it, but also in accordance with Polish laws”.
Prime Minister Tusk, a liberal pro-European politician and former president of the European Council, also said that he would ask the Foreign Ministry for a detailed report on the consequences of the recent CJEU decision, but urged his fellow citizens to remain calm, reminding them that it is “a topic that generates a lot of division and strong emotions”.
The CJEU decision, issued in a case originating in Poland, establishes that an EU member state has the obligation to recognize marriages between persons of the same sex legally performed in another member state, including in the situation where the national legislation does not recognize such marriages, as in the case of Poland.
The European court states in its verdict that the refusal to recognize these marriages by any EU state would violate the freedom of movement and residence, as well as the fundamental right to respect for private and family life.
Prime Minister Tusk also stated that “the Polish government is working on its own legislation that will regulate these matters in a way that the majority of Poles, through the parliamentary majority, consider appropriate”.
He thus referred to a draft law in the works that would regulate a so-called “intimate partner status” or “cohabitation agreement”, which would establish partial rights in the case of unmarried couples, including those of the same sex, in matters such as property, use of living spaces or alimony. Issues such as adoption or custody of children will not be found in this project.
