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Europe
Europe Aghast: Poland Blocks Anti-Death Penalty Day
2007-09-19
Crazy Poles! They're pro-life, too!

Warsaw has clashed with other EU member states by vetoing the creation of a European Day against the Death Penalty. At a heated meeting of EU ministers on Tuesday, Poland said it wants to promote the "right to life" instead -- and highlight issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

Poland is once again on a collision course with other European Union member states, this time by by vetoing plans to create a European anti-death penalty day. At a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers on Tuesday, Poland was the only country to refuse to agree to make Oct. 10 a "European Day against the Death Penalty."

Once again Warsaw was not willing to play ball with its European partners, insisting the EU "approach the subject in a broader way and debate the protection of life" -- including issues such as abortion and euthanasia. Poland is a staunchly Roman Catholic country and is one of only three EU countries, together with Ireland and Malta, that prohibits abortion on demand.

At Tuesday's meeting Poland's deputy justice minister, Andrzej Duda, suggested the EU should celebrate a "right to life day" instead of marking its opposition to the death penalty. He then shocked his colleagues by reading out loud the number of abortions in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Glorious!
Afterwards, Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen said that the Polish performance was an expression of "moral decay," Italy's Justice Minister Clememete Mastela called the Polish stance "arrogant," while Britain's Justice Minister Jack Straw insisted Poland should not push the issue of abortion at the EU level. "I just don't think it's appropriate for partisan politics," he told reporters. Germany's Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries agreed: "Everybody else said that's not an issue."

The ruling Kaczynski twins -- Lech, the president, and Jaroslaw, the prime minister -- have said that they personally favor the death penalty but do not plan to reinstate it. Their Law and Justice Party is currently in the throes of an election campaign (more...) and is running on a pro-family platform.
"More Poles" Sounds like a winner :)
The clash with Poland could undermine the EU's diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to introduce a global moratorium on the death penalty. Many nations, including the United States, Russia and China, continue to impose death sentences.
There are quite a few other countries that impose death sentences - like, say, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and ... Why don't they get a mention?

In the light of Poland's intransigence, Portugal, current holder of the EU presidency, decided not to submit the issue to a vote on Tuesday, but Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa insisted this "does not mean that Europe is not committed to the abolition of the death penalty in the world." "We are going to work in order to issue a strong message that will dignify the continent of Europe," he told reporters, saying that Portugal would instead hold a high-level international conference in Lisbon on Oct. 9.
There's nothing like an EU Council memo when it comes to "dignifying" Euroops.
Posted by:mrp

#14  Danielle, before Lyndon Johnson unleashed his War on Poverty in 1964, parents were responsible for raising their children. Couples, married and not-yet married, were much more careful in their sexual activity because carelessness resulted in pregnancy and concomitant consequences. The birth control pill and abortion on demand eliminated the need for caution. Welfare eliminated the need for fathers. Things have been spiraling out of control ever since. The world did not become a better place.
Posted by: RWV   2007-09-19 21:22  

#13  I agree wid #3 in part. Poland wants strong trade relations wid Germany and Russia - it has already fogiven Russia for KATYN, etc. even though Russia has not formally acknowledged its role in the unilater mass killing of Polish officers. And like Russia, Poland, etc has an interest in the revitalization of local SLAVIC CULTURE-SOCIETY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-09-19 20:07  

#12  You know Nimble....I can't think of ANYTHING more that would panic the elites of Europe than for us to admit some country, such as Poland, to statehood. Mostly because there's alot of people in Europe that would just LOVE to be US citizens, but have trouble getting into the US through the immigration system. I'll wager if Poland did apply for statehood, the amount of EU cits moving to Poland would take a huge jump.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2007-09-19 17:11  

#11  The Poles should be negotiating for statehood.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-09-19 16:25  

#10  I must admit I've really been impressed with the Polish, they've been pretty stand up guys, in the same league as Australia and others. I'm glad to see them standing up to the rest of Europe. Kinda strange, Britian, who used to have a spine, doesn't and Poland, who supposedly didn't, definately has one.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2007-09-19 16:19  

#9  but Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa

Porugal is the cotry where whatever what the criminal has done or the probability he will kill again he will be released after twenty years. And they will refuse extradition unless the othzer country promises not to sentence him for life.

Even if the criminal is Jacques Dutroux, Charles Manson or Jack the Ripper. And to hell with victims. That is the country who is lecturing the Poles.
Posted by: JFM   2007-09-19 15:10  

#8  
Slogans and bans aren't the answer. What if those opposed to the death penalty and abortion assume personal liability for the lives they want spared, I mean total financial and custodial care for the entire lifespan or until an independent adult capable of self-support? Whether from infancy(adoption of fetus on) or life imprisonment that includes dental and health care now picked up by taxpayers, these killers can't be turned loose and kids don't raise themselves. Someone has to be responsible for parenting all these unborn kids, many with born w/ AIDS or addicted,requiring a high level of care the mothers can't provide when the fathers aren't around. Spouting slogans and using issues as pivotal political points is unnecessarily divisive. Have we lost all common sense?


In short, you're saying, if people value life so much, they should pay the god damned extorsion/blackmail money?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman   2007-09-19 12:58  

#7  but Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa insisted this "does not mean that Europe is not committed to the abolition of the death penalty in the world."

Actually, Mr. Prime Minister Costa, it does too mean that Europe is not committed to the abolition of the death penalty. To be precise, it means that Europe is committed to supporting the right of nation states to legally proscribe and enforce the death penalty, should their citizens or the legally elected representatives thereof so choose. Sorry.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-09-19 11:50  

#6  The Poles, like other Eastern Europeans, had plenty of experience under a regime in which 'voluntary' abortion became 'state encouraged abortion'. To them this is also about limiting state power.
Posted by: lotp   2007-09-19 11:37  

#5  But I agree about the liability for crimes perpetrated by reincident criminals: yesterday Spanish minister of justice (as an aside a guy whose sectarianism and total contempt for the law is only seen in diactatorships) told about the decision to liberate a multiple non-reformed raper that 'his place was in the street'. No questions be it about the law or the judge who allowed this.

Let's have a few miniters, judges and anti-death penalty activists being shot by one of the future victims of the people they release on the population. I am sure this will bring a change of attitude.

Europe has the death penalty. But not for criminals, just for little girls.

Posted by: JFM   2007-09-19 11:36  

#4  I can't resist:
Hang 'em High!>
Posted by: 3dc   2007-09-19 11:30  

#3  In my mind, the issue of the death penalty is simply one about limiting the power of the state; not trusting the state enough to let it do something as irrevocable as killing a human being in cold blood when they could lock him up for life instead.

The issues of euthanasia and abortion are similar. The state shouldn't have the right to prevent a patient from dying if they really want to.

And though abortion is as always a trickier subject, treating a week-old embryo like a human baby is as ridiculous as is *not* treating a nine-month old fetus as a human baby.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2007-09-19 11:27  

#2   What if those opposed to the death penalty and abortion assume personal liability for the lives they want spared, I mean total financial and custodial care for the entire lifespan or until an independent adult capable of self-support?

And all this time I thought parents should be responsible for their children. Now they have to share their kids with other people?
Posted by: mrp   2007-09-19 11:13  

#1  Slogans and bans aren't the answer. What if those opposed to the death penalty and abortion assume personal liability for the lives they want spared, I mean total financial and custodial care for the entire lifespan or until an independent adult capable of self-support? Whether from infancy(adoption of fetus on) or life imprisonment that includes dental and health care now picked up by taxpayers, these killers can't be turned loose and kids don't raise themselves. Someone has to be responsible for parenting all these unborn kids, many with born w/ AIDS or addicted,requiring a high level of care the mothers can't provide when the fathers aren't around. Spouting slogans and using issues as pivotal political points is unnecessarily divisive. Have we lost all common sense?
Posted by: Danielle   2007-09-19 10:57  

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