At a recent debate which was called, "Right-wing Extremism and Hate Speech. Political, Legal and Administrative Approaches", the Romanian Justice Minister, Raluca Pruna, attacked parties and organisations because they oppose homosexual "marriage".

Specifically, she said the following:

"...we have certainly do not have extremist parties in Parliament, (...) but we have promoted these movements [those movements of citizens defending marriage as between one man and one woman] in the parliamentary political parties, which are not extremist in themselves, but which promote, I dare say (...) extremist, traditional values...these attempts to justify the attachment to traditional values [are based on the] rejection of the fundamental right of someone else, for example, marriage for everyone."

Obviously, context matters very much. In this case, the Minister was speaking during a discussion about how so-called "hate speech" should be dealt with from a political, administrative and "legal" perspective.

The implication, here, is that individuals or organisations who oppose same-sex "marriage" could somehow be breaking the law - if not now, then certainly at some point in the future.

But, the fact is that neither same-sex "marriage" nor same-sex union are legal in Romania, nor, for that matter, accepted by the public in Romania.

In the normal run of things, Justice Ministers should obviously respect the laws of one's own country, and those holding to rule of law.

It is hypocritial in the extreme to think that a Justice Minister would, herself, oppose the very position of government and civil society, and the county's own legal code.

And, to a significant degree, it shows not a little arrogance to position oneself against Romanian society's overwhelming opposition to homosexual union and "marriage".

Earlier this year, over 3 million Romanian citizens signed a petition calling for a review of Art. 48 of the Romanian Constitution, to exclude the possibility of legalising homosexual union in Romania.

In particular, the signers of the citizens' initiative demanded that the word "spouses", which lends itself to ambiguity, be removed, and "exclusive union of a man and woman" be inserted.

3 million Romanian adults equates to about 25% of the total electorate, meaning that this movement to protect the natural family simply cannot be motivated by party political affiliation. It is an astonishing number for any country.

But, also, in 2015, a Eurobarometer poll showed that 69% of Romanians were against same-sex "marriage".

So, from the evidence, it is very clear that the Romanian public wish to reserve marriage to one man and one woman, only.

Parties in power and Justice Ministers who oppose such huge numbers of citizens do so at their own political peril.

But, perhaps the Justice Minister doesn't care about her political life in Romania...as she has spent so much time working for the EU.

In fact, if one reviews the Minister's CV (see below), one can see that, over the last 16 years, Ms Pruna has spent 13 of those years working at high levels for the EU Commission or the EU Parliament.

One might ask if the reward for her faithful service to Brussels is her current ministerial position.

One might also wonder whether or not she has the Justice portfolio possibly because, with her experience at the EU, she has seen how the EU apparatus is used to squeeze Member States on issues like same-sex "marriage".

Of course, we hope that this is not the case, but when such apparent ideologues are put into positions of power - and attempt to threaten civil society - the general public must be told.

This petition, which goes to the Romanian Prime Minister, Mr Dacian Cioloș and to Mr Liviu Dragnea, President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), asking them to insist that their Ministers actually support the current Romanian legal code, and respect the members of political parties and civil society who wish to protect the institution of marriage, as between one man and one woman.

If Ministers cannot support the law and the vast majority of Romanian citizens on this issue, this petition also asks this PM and the future PM (post-election), to find a qualified candidate for the position, who can support them.

Thank you for signing this important petition.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.evz.ro/raluca-pruna-ataca-partidele-care-sustin-valorile-traditionale-pe.html

http://www.just.ro/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CV-RalucaPrunaRO.pdf