Sarajevo Open Centre is happy to announce yesterday the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on strengthening the fight against racism, xenophobia and hate crime, calling on the European Commission to add homophobia and transphobia to the list of EU-sanctioned hate speech and violence.

Since a 2008 Framework Decision, the European Union foresees specific, higher penalties for racist and xenophobic speech and crime. These measures are now in force in all 27 Member States and Croatia, due to join the EU on 1st July this year.

This new resolution is also very important for countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, because this obligations will be applyable to our country in its path to the EU integration

LGBT persons are continuously subjets of hate crime and of incitement of hate within the European continent and that’s why this group deserve special protection, together with other minority groups.

Today’s resolution was supported by all six main political groups, who agreed that ”expressions and acts of anti-Semitism, religious intolerance, anti‑Gypsyism, homophobia and transphobia” should be punished by EU law, something the Parliament had already asked for.