Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli announced in late July that she had rejected six applications for funding for projects under the EU’s Town Partnership program. As indicated by the Commissioner, Polish local authorities were involved in their submission and adopted resolutions on “LGBTI free zones” or “family rights”.
The Minister of Justice at the Tuesday press conference at the headquarters of the Ministry, announced under the title “Support for municipalities wronged by Commissioner Dalli” said, inter alia on the related situation of the Tuchów commune (Małopolskie Voivodeship).
In his opinion, only because the councilors of this commune “had the courage to stand up for the basic values related to the protection of the family”, they became “the subject of harassment and assault” by the commissioner. The amount that was not granted to the commune is – as Ziobro said – approx. PLN 80 thousand. zł.
– We have good news for this commune, but also for every commune in the future that would be harassed in this way by the European Commission for ideological reasons – emphasized the minister. As he explained, the Ministry of Justice accepted the application of the Tuchów commune for financial support and awarded her with an amount three times higher than the one “received by Mrs. Dalli”.
The representatives of the Tuchów commune collected a symbolic check for the amount of PLN 250,000. zł. The money is to be used for the benefit of voluntary fire brigades which “deal directly with the safety and assistance provided to the residents.”
In Ziobro’s opinion, this support has a double dimension. – We support the commune, which has a pro-family agenda here and is committed to supporting well-functioning families, opposing the imposition of the LGBT + ideology, gender ideology, which is advocated by the European Commission, which is contrary to Polish culture, tradition, but also the Polish legal order – he said. At the same time – he added – useful activities for residents are supported.
Ziobro also announced that he would also address the head of government in this matter. – I will address a request to Prime Minister Morawiecki that we think about creating such a permanent support mechanism for those communes which – according to the announcements of Commissioner Dalli – are to be harassed possibly for supporting pro-family policy – he announced. – Such communes must know that the Polish state is behind them – he added.
Zbigniew Ziobro had previously asked the government to react in the European Commission regarding the application for EU funds from six Polish cities. He addressed his appeal to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
“Minister Zbigniew Ziobro asked Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to react firmly in the forum of the European Commission, because the decisions of the Commission are unacceptable and illegal,” the ministry wrote in its statement.
The money comes from the Justice Fund once again
The money for the Tuchów commune comes from the Justice Fund. In theory, it is supposed to help crime victims. However, in recent years, money has largely been donated to organizations close to the Church, including those belonging to Father Rydzyk.
Professional, free and confidential assistance to victims of crime, victims and their families is an obligation imposed on each EU country under the EU directive. These funds are to come from the Justice Fund, which has multi-million euro amounts from, among others, from the interest paid by the perpetrators of crimes.
In 2015, funds for helping victims amounted to over PLN 30 million. A year later, this amount increased significantly to PLN 385 million, and in 2017 to PLN 463 million. The problem, however, is that despite the increase in funds in the Fund, from year to year victims of crime received less and less money from it.
According to the OKO.press portal, in 2015 – when the Fund had about PLN 30 million – as much as 80 percent. from these funds it went to non-governmental organizations supporting victims of crime. A year later, when the Fund had nearly PLN 400 million at its disposal, only 5 percent went to the aggrieved parties. this sum. And in 2017, when the Fund had PLN 463 million, NGOs providing assistance to crime victims received only 3 percent of this money.
The type of NGOs that started winning ministerial competitions for the distribution of funds from the Justice Fund in 2016 began to become more homogeneous. They mainly have a right-wing profile, often close to the church or directly related to it, such as Caritas, which is subordinate to the Polish Episcopal Conference.
Funds from the Fund also went to institutions related to Father Tadeusz Rydzyk. In 2017, as part of the competition for projects aimed at counteracting the causes of crime, the Lux Veritatis Foundation received nearly PLN 650,000. zł. For what purpose? Preparation of intervention reports and … a concert of Christmas carols. A year later, Lux Veritatis received nearly PLN 420,000 from the Justice Fund. zł.
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(pmd)
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