The fundamental rights of LGBTI people need to be a core part of the accession process and EU institutions need to work with the authorities in each accession country to ensure the gaps are tackled and important pieces of legislation are advanced over the next year.

The EU enlargement process has leverage and needs to be fully used to support the adoption of important legislation protecting the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, as well as call out when governments advance laws that go against EU principle of fundamental rights, democracy and rule of law.

Over the last year, not only have we seen the worrying trends of governments challenging the rule of law, an increase in LGBTI phobic hate speech by politicians and religious leader continuing and foreign influence being exerted to challenge advances on human rights continue, but in a number of candidate and accession countries, ruling parties have been pushing legislation forward that is actively limiting the human rights of vulnerable groups including LGBTI people. We have also seen governments putting forward Russian style foreign agent laws in Georgia and Republika Srpska in Bosnia- Herzegovina. LGBTI rights are being used to polarise society, often to distract from a broader undermining of democracy and the rule of law in these countries and other more important socio- economic and political issues.

The annual enlargement report process is a key moment to remind governments of the criteria that need to be met and point out where advancement on rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights are needed to advance the process. While in some countries progress has been too slow and the EU should ensure that important legislative processes are finally seen through (such as the legal gender recognition in Montenegro and partnership recognition for same-sex partners and a new hate crimes legislation in Ukraine), it is important to be very clear that the attempts to put forward laws that actively cancel EU fundamental rights cannot be tolerated and will need to lead to a reconsideration of the status granted by the EU.

It is especially important in this context that the EU insist that the protection of LGBTI people’s human rights are a core part, as they are often falling behind the requirements. The recommendations regarding the human rights of LGBTI people in the EU enlargement reports are key in holding governments accountable to the commitments made. This also means putting an emphasis on ensuring proper implementation of the laws protecting and granting access to fundamental rights. It is key that the EU makes this a priority in all the countries, also by supporting initiatives for training and education.

Through the region of all enlargement and candidate countries, we can clearly see how foreign forces are gaining influence and are challenging alliance with EU values and fundamental rights. The strength of disinformation and anti-LGBTI sentiment being spread across the Western Balkans region, particularly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, has intensified even more since Russia’s war in Ukraine, with LGBTI people and civil society as targets of smear campaigns, hatred and hostility, often originating from the government level, pro-Russia forces and religious leaders. We can see the anti-gender movement gaining more ground, spreading countless hostile and hateful statements and protests, disturbing public order and democratic processes. Politicians, religious leaders and newly formed organisations were among the most common perpetrators of hate speech, which translates into actual hate and violence against LGBTI people.

The anti-rights movement, which is well funded and coordinated, has taken root strongly in the Western Balkans region in the last years. In order to stand against this increasing influence of anti- gender forces and foreign governments trying to undermine the EU rule of law and democracy, strong civil society organisations are key as they continue to build social acceptance for fundamental rights, support vulnerable groups and are a corner stone of democratic societies.

The fact that LGBTI organisations in the Western Balkans have seen EU support decrease has further weakened their work and social cohesion in those countries. A number of LGBTI organisations had to close, and many at brink of closing, while they are facing organised attacks against their physical spaces, as well as against the legal framework which protects and guarantees their equal rights. The EU must be a supporting partner to these organisations, including their views meaningfully in consultations and negotiations, modelling civil dialogue as an important part of a democratic society, and continuing to support LGBTI organisations in the region through funding in the extremely fragile context.

LGBTI activists from new EU enlargement countries, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have gathered in Brussels to call on EU representatives to live up to the promise that comes with the accession process

Today, LGBTI activists from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia met with EU representatives in Brussels to explain serious challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in their countries, and urge European institutions and Member States to live up to the hope they have given in granting all three countries prospects of becoming members of the EU.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has made enlargement a priority in the eastern neighbourhood region, recently opening the path for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to join the EU. Ukraine and Moldova were granted candidate status by the EU Council in June 2022, and just last month the European Commission advised that Georgia should also receive candidate status at the upcoming December Council.

The prospect of joining the EU is an important motivation for governments to make reforms on advancement of rule of law and protection of fundamental rights. It is especially important in this context that the EU insists that the protection of LGBTI people’s human rights are a core part of those requirements, as governments are often falling behind the requirements. Recommendations from the EU regarding the human rights of LGBTI people are key tools supporting LGBTI organisations to engage with their governments and hold them accountable to the commitments made.

In all three countries hate crime and hate speech against LGBTI people remains a serious issue. While both Moldova and Georgia have legislation protecting against hate crime on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, hate crimes are consistently not registered and prosecuted. Ukraine still needs to adopt such legislation, which is currently being debated in parliament. Despite the international obligations of these countries to provide a legal framework for the recognition of same-sex couples, none of them have adopted such legislation. The inequality this creates is particularly highlighted in Ukraine at this time, where the lack of rights of same-sex partners of soldiers wounded or killed are laid bare. International standards as regards legal gender recognition are that the procedure should be quick, transparent and accessible without abusive requirements. Currently all three countries fail to live up to this for different reasons.

Says Rina Rybalko from Gender Stream, Ukraine: “We believe that Ukraine being an EU candidate country shows bilateral willingness to cooperate and integrate, especially in terms of common values, human rights standards and opportunities. This is an important step towards strengthening democratic values and supporting civil society in Ukraine, where freedom, diversity and human rights are a priority.”

Leo Zbancă from GENDERDOC-M in Moldova says: ”The LGBTI community in Moldova faces risks due to growing anti-LGBTI narratives promoted by pro-Russian forces. We see Moldova’s move to join the EU as vital for protecting LGBTI rights and ensuring the dignity and safety of the community.”

According to Mariam Kvaratskhelia from Tbilisi Pride: “Georgia should be granted candidate status and should move further on the EU integration path without sacrificing LGBTI rights and equality, which is unfortunately what the government is currently doing.”

The accession process comes with hope in candidate countries that the prospect of EU membership will help secure a better life for LGBTI people through the implementation of EU law and standards. However, the road to EU accession can be long, and hope and ambition can turn into disillusionment and disengagement if reforms are not seen through and the efforts of people and governments are not supported and awarded by the EU.

According to Executive Co-director at ERA, Danijel Kalezić from Montenegro, which became a candidate country in 2010: “In the last 15 years in the Western Balkans, we saw how the EU enlargement process can highly contribute to the legal protection and advancement of human rights for LGBTI communities. Unfortunately, we have also seen how a lack of direct and visible political support from the EU to grassroots movements in crucial moments can result in providing a space for anti-democratic movements to stop progress achieved and push the backsliding that is currently ongoing in our region.”

The meetings between activists and EU representatives in Brussels this week were facilitated by ILGA-Europe, the largest umbrella organisation for the LGBTI movement in Europe. According to ILGA-Europe’s Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel, “These meetings are essential because we need to ensure that all EU institutions engaged in the enlargement process understand what is at stake – the huge potential to work for better respect of LGBTI people’s human rights through the process, but also the big risk of backlash in case the EU is not following through the accession promises.

“We see in the Western Balkans after years of active engagement on advancing human rights and fulfilling accession conditions, people are now disillusioned and the influence and leverage of the EU is quickly diminishing. Tensions in the region are high and the influence of other global forces is very real and worrying. In Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, people want to move towards the EU and democratic reforms are undertaken to do so. The EU needs to support these efforts and stand clear on its promise of accession.”

ILGA-Europe has worked with ERA – LGBTI Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey, to produce our annual LGBTI Enlargement Review, assessing gaps in legislation and policy for the protection and advancement of the human rights of LGBTI people in the enlargement countries, and identifying priorities the EU should insist authorities in each country need to tackle in the coming year, as identified by LGBTI activists in the respective countries.

2022 was an historic year for the enlargement process, as the EU expanded its promise of a perspective for EU accession to include Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, following the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. All three countries are now included in the EU’s annual enlargement reporting process. As ILGA-Europe has member organisations in all of the newly added countries, this year’s LGBTI Enlargement Review covers the perspectives of LGBTI civil society from all ten countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

This year’s LGBTI Enlargement Review also follows a new format. We wanted to particularly highlight the importance of implementation of already existing policy and legislation, as it has become commonplace for Enlargement countries to adopt a legal framework aligning with EU standards, but not actually implementing it. As a result, each country chapter is divided into the below headings:

• Main legislation/policy to be drafted/adopted to ensure non-discrimination and access to justice for LGBTI people (priorities for the coming year)
• Implementation of already-existing legislation/policy
• Legislation/policy in process
• Feedback on the European Commission’s 2022 Enlargement Report (where applicable)
• Recommendations to the EU

These headings are then complemented by a section linking readers to the respective country chapter of ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review 2023, in order to understand the reality on the ground and more nuanced context, which often varies significantly from legislative frameworks. The chapter on Turkey is structured in a different way, in order to present the current state of play prior to the elections in May, and will be updated to reflect the priorities that emerge after the elections.

In all of the enlargement countries, we can unfortunately identify a clear trend of rule of law being challenged, foreign influence being exerted to challenge advances on human rights, including the rights of LGBTI people, and an increase of hate speech translating into violence on the ground, as well as ongoing challenges to freedom of assembly and association.

In this context, LGBTI topics are being used to polarise society, often to distract from a broader undermining of democracy and the rule of law in these countries and other more important socio-economic and political issues.

It is thus important that the EU renews a clear prospect for EU enlargement, not only for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, but most importantly in the Western Balkans. The commencement of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia is an encouraging step in this regard. It is important that the EU places LGBTI rights firmly into all its considerations, and that demands on advancing the protection of the human rights of LGBTI people are put on the same footing as important processes on fighting corruption and advancing the rule of law.

Although achieving EU membership can take several years, even decades, the accession process can already have a positive impact in LGBTI people in a candidate country. We speak to activists in the latest candidates, Ukraine and Moldova, and from Montenegro, which has been a candidate since 2010.

Since its foundation, the EU family has kept its doors open to new members who share the same values. They must be committed to apply, support and promote the EU’s democratic principles and practices in their territories and overseas. Once the request of a European state to join the EU has been agreed by current EU member states, the accession process begins. The benefits of joining are multiple, including access to billions of EU funding, visa free access to EU countries, and Free movement of labour, goods, services and capital.

During the process, the candidate country must satisfy a number of political and economic criteria as well as administrative and institutional capacity.

These criteria include respect for the human rights of LGBTI people. In our latest podcast at The Frontline we spoke to LGBTI activists in Ukraine and Moldova, the latest countries to have been granted candidate status, and in Montenegro, which has been a candidate member since 2010.

Lenny Emson, Ukraine

Lenny is the Director of KyivPride and a board member of Transgender Europe. Earlier this year, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the country applied for membership of the EU and it was granted candidate status just a few months later, along with Moldova. Lenny says the accession process “brings a bit of hope” to LGBTI people in a country that is still battling against Putin’s invasion.

“In practice this could mean the adoption of marriage equality and anti-hate legislation. Right now, if a person in a same-sex relationship gets hurt in the battlefield, their partner will not have the right to make medical decisions. This is why marriage equality in Ukraine is one of the priorities for LGBTI activists at the moment and the EU candidate status is pushing it up in the political agenda.~

Before the war started, anti-hate legislation to protect LGBTI people from biased-motivated crime was already in the makings. According to Lenny, its adoption would would be gaining a “right we’ve been fighting for in the five past years”.

Now more than ever, LGBTI activists advocate for the protection of sexual orientation and gender identity grounds as “anti-LGBTI groups that existed before the war now feel pretty much okay,” as Lenny explains. “Since the war started over 100 cases of LGBTI-phobic crimes have been reported to civil society organisations.”

Anastasia Danilova, Moldova

Anastasia is the director of GENDERDOC-M and a board member of ILGA-Europe. Just a few days after Ukraine’s request in early March 2022, Moldova applied for EU membership. The country also became candidate member in June.

“Definitely it’s a great opportunity for LGBTI people in the country,”. Anastasia says. There have been already some positive changes linked to the EU accession, like the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, which entered into force in the country in May, and the adoption of anti-hate crime legislation which includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected grounds.

“Implementation will be a huge issue, but it’s already a big step. Until now, because of lack of legislation, crimes against LGBTI people were not registered in the official statistics.”

For Moldovans, the EU accession talks are also a security matter as pro-Russian parties try to destabilise the progressive government. “EU enlargement is the only chance for the future, for LGBTI people to enjoy equality,” Anastasia explains.

Danijel Kalezić, Montenegro

Danijel worked for years as the Executive Director of Queer Montenegro , but has now become the Co-director of ERA, the LGBTI Equal  Rights Association. 12 years after Montenegro was granted EU candidate status, Danijel’s insights on the process and its impact are different to those from Lenny and Anastasia.

He sees a gap between “the paper” and the practice. “In many countries the EU enlargement is been used to improve the human rights framework. Montenegro is a good example of this. This year the country made it to the top-10 of the Rainbow Map and Index and has made major legislative changes in recent years to protect the rights of LGBTI people, including same-sex unions. However, if we look to what’s happening in real life, [the change] is not followed.”

This is because there are no communication campaigns following the legislative changes. “To enjoy all the rights that we have now on paper, we need to be able to change hearts and minds. And that change is not going as fast as the change of the legal framework,” Danijel says.

The EU candidate status can be “an amazing boost for the human rights of LGBTI people, to start conversations, but I would like to see more pressure from the EU on the government and stakeholders to talk about the importance of this process.”

Danijel points out to the need of speaking of human rights not only important to become a member of the EU, but above all, for all citizens of the country.  

Danijel, Anastasia and Lenny are all guests on our latest two-part podcast episode exploring the effect of the EU accession process on candidate countries, alongside former member of European Parliament, Marije Cornelissen, who has worked extensively on the accession process, and ILGA-Europe’s advocacy director, Katrin Hugendubel, to talk about our long history of working alongside candidate countries to advocate for LGBTI rights and equality.

In this two-part episode of The Frontline podcast, presented by Belinda Dear, we’re looking at the new wave of accession to the European Union and what it will mean for LGBTI people.

With the recent news that Ukraine and Moldova are now candidates to the EU, the topic of EU accession is on the radar again, while Western Balkan countries such as Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro have been going through the process for some years now, and Turkey not acceded since its application in 1987.

With the current state of LGBTI rights in Central Europe, highlighted most recently by the Serbian government’s anti-democratic instrumentalising of LGBTI people in an effort to try to stop EuroPride in Belgrade, how does this kind of backsliding play into the accession process? And what about countries like Ukraine, where LGBTI rights have barely been on the governmental agenda? What are the opportunities to be gained by candidacy for joining the EU?

To discuss these questions and more, we’re joined by former member of European Parliament, Marije Cornelissen, who has worked extensively on the accession process, Lenny Emson from Kyiv Pride in Ukraine, Anastasia Danilova from GENDERDOC-M in Moldova, and Danijel Kalezić, who worked for years as the Executive Director of Queer Montenegro, but has now become the Co-director of ERA, the LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey . We’re also joined by our Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel to talk about ILGA-Europe’s deep and long-term experience of working on accession countries, which has been happening for 25 years now.

Listen below or click here to listen and subscribe to The Frontline on your favourite podcast platform.

Published today, ILGA-Europe’s Annual Enlargement Review urgently calls on all EU enlargement countries to properly implement their anti-discrimination, hate crime and hate speech legal frameworks, in the context of rising anti-gender, anti-rights and far-right groups.

ILGA-Europe and the LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey (ERA), have published their annual Enlargement Review, which outlines the developments in recognising and respecting the human rights of LGBTI people in each enlargement country (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) from January to December 2021.

The annual LGBTI Enlargement Review acts as an LGBTI submission to the Enlargement Progress Reports of the European Commission. These reports are a detailed annual assessment of the state of play in each candidate country and potential candidate country, outlining what has been achieved over the last year and what remains to be achieved. 

This year’s Enlargement Review is published in the context of rising Euroscepticism in the enlargement countries, as well as a significant rise of anti-gender, anti-rights and far-right groups across the region. Misinformation and discriminatory speech against LGBTI people has been spread in public discourse via national broadcasting and political processes, leading to the prevention of the development of laws and policies inclusive of LGBTI people. As a result, despite some welcome significant advancements in the preparation and drafting of legislation to protect the human rights of LGBTI people this year, much of this legislation is currently stalled.

The Annual Enlargement Review recognises that the EU accession process has been a strong driving force for change in the recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people in the region, and it encourages this continued commitment by outlining the laws and policies that are still needed to ensure full and genuine protection of the human rights of LGBTI people, and by providing recommendations to each country’s authorities and to the European Union.

At ILGA-Europe, we hope to see the current legislative gaps closed, in particular regarding family rights, legal gender recognition based on self-determination, and the protection of intersex people’s human rights. With the rise in anti-gender, anti-rights and far-right groups, we renew with increased urgency our call on all countries to properly implement their anti-discrimination, hate crime and hate speech legal frameworks.

Further information:

Each country’s submission is arranged under the following headings. In cases where organisations have no updates to share, the respective heading has been left out. Each thematic heading also contains recommendations for the national authorities.

• Summary of key developments 
• Main action points for the coming year 
• Bias motivated violence, hate speech, hate crimes 
• Education 
• Employment 
• Equality and non-discrimination, including legislation and enforcement 
• Freedom of assembly, association and expression 
• Health 
• Human rights defenders 
• Public opinion and attitudes 
• Recognised unions for same-sex couples 
• Rights and equal treatment of trans people 
• Rights and equal treatment of intersex people 
• A supportive and enabling environment for civil society 
• Recommendations on how the EU delegation/European Commission can support LGBTI CSOs 

LGBTI Enlargement Review 2021

Even with the rise of Euroscepticism in the Western Balkans and Turkey, the EU accession process continues to be a driving force for change in the recognition of the human rights of LGBTI+ people. The annual enlargement report process is a key moment to remind governments of the criteria that need to be met and point out where advancement, especially regarding the protection of LGBTI people, is still falling behind the requirements. The recommendations regarding the human rights of LGBTI+ people are key tools supporting LGBTI+ organisations in the region to engage with their governments and hold them accountable to the commitments made.

To ensure an accurate representation of the developments regarding the human rights of LGBTI+ people, ILGA-Europe and ERA, together with member organisations in EU enlargement countries, have compiled this submission to the Progress Reports of the European Commission.

This report reflects developments in recognising and respecting the human rights of LGBTI+ people in each enlargement country from January to December 2021. In addition to outlining key developments and challenges on the road to LGBTI equality, the report also highlights gaps in legislation and policy for the protection and advancing of the human rights of LGBTI+ people and the priorities which authorities in each country should tackle in the coming year, as identified by LGBTI+ activists in the respective countries.

ILGA-Europe has in partnership with national organisations provided the European Commission with detailed documentation on human rights violations against LGBTI people in all candidate and potential candidate countries throughout the year which is included in the submissions to the Progress Reports.

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We are joined by Danijel Kalezi?, president of the Governing Board of Queer Montenegro, which helped usher in legislation for civil unions for same-sex couples, which were signed into law last year, making Montenegro the second Western Balkans country, after Croatia, to do so.

Danijel is with us to talk about the journey so far in Montenegro, and the state of play for same-sex partnership rights across the Western Balkans.

LGBTI ENLARGEMENT REVIEW 2020

In order to ensure an accurate representation of the developments relating to the human rights of LGBTI people ILGA-Europe and ERA, together with our member organisations in EU accession countries, have compiled this submission to the Progress Reports of the European Commission.

This report reflects developments in the recognition and respect for the human rights of LGBTI people in each accession country during the period from January through December 2020. It is intended to assist the European Commission in assessing the progress made en route to EU accession in each country to date. In addition to outlining key developments and challenges on the road to LGBTI equality, the report also highlights gaps in legislation and policy for the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBTI people, and the priorities which authorities in each country should tackle in the coming year, as identified by LGBTI activists in the respective countries.

In light of the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic this year on the LGBTI community and work of LGBTI activists, we have also included information about its impact, and the necessary assistance that the EU can help provide in supporting LGBTI people. ILGA-Europe and ERA members have reported that the LGBTI community has been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and that state support services have failed to reach the most vulnerable in LGBTI communities. As a result, LGBTI NGOs have had to adapt their previous plans and budgets to cover humanitarian aid gaps within the State response to the crisis, providing food, hygiene kits and shelter to LGBTI people who have lost their jobs or been rendered homeless. This has left organisations depleted in terms of human resources and finances, and they have found donors and funders in many cases to have not been flexible with their funding. Even funding specifically earmarked for Covid-19 response has not been possible to use for service provision and support. Given the unsustainable response by governments, it is more essential than ever for the EU to support LGBTI people in the accession countries via funding for supporting LGBTI communities and community-needs advocacy. This funding is essential in order to allow LGBTI NGOs to support the community during the pandemic and ensuing economic crisis, and for them to also have the financial and human resources capacity to continue advocacy work for legislative and policy change within the accession framework. A survey conducted by ERA with its members in the summer of 2020, found that the Covid-19 related measures taken by governments have had numerous negative consequences for the LGBTI+ community including: interruption of essential health services by state institutions, inability to receive essential community services from NGOs, heightened levels of homelessness, increased incidents of domestic violence, closure of LGBTI+ businesses, a significant loss of jobs and rising mental health problems. LGBTI+ organisations have also faced challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic measures including: loss of funding, closure of community centres, cancellation of services and other activities as well as a general shift towards emergency humanitarian work for LGBTI+ people in need.

LGBTI ENLARGEMENT REVIEW 2019

In order to ensure an accurate representation of the developments relating to the human rights of LGBTI people ILGA-Europe and ERA, together with our member organisations in EU accession countries, have compiled this submission to the Progress Reports of the European Commission.

This report reflects developments in the recognition and respect for the human rights of LGBTI people in each accession country during the period from January through December 2019. It is intended to assist the European Commission in assessing the progress made en route to EU accession in each country to date. In addition to outlining key developments and challenges on the road to LGBTI equality, the report also highlights gaps in legislation and policy for the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBTI people, and the priorities which authorities in each country should tackle in the coming year, as identified by LGBTI activists in the respective countries.
We hope that this input will be useful in the process of assessing the progress of each country to date, and in identifying key priorities in the coming year.

We also hope that this report will be used as guidance by the EU officials, MEPs and EU representatives in the accession countries throughout the year, when referring to rights of LGBTI persons in the accession countries and the much needed further improvement of their position in society and within legal and policy frameworks.

The EU accession process has been, and continues to be, a driving force for change in the recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people throughout the region. Year on year the human rights of LGBTI people continue to feature notably in the reports, assessing progress to date and setting out recommendations for the authorities to implement in the future. In order to ensure this implementation, we deem it necessary to extend this reporting process so that it includes mechanisms for the follow-up of the recommendations to national governments, and for reporting back to civil society on how data published in the reports are used in this regard throughout the year. In this way we can ensure that the reports reach their full potential when it comes to securing social and legal change for the rights of LGBTI people in the region.

LGBTI ENLARGEMENT REVIEW 2018

The EU accession process has been, and continues to be, a driving force for change in the recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people throughout the region not only through the criteria that countries have to meet, but through the annual Enlargement Reports. Year on year the human rights of LGBTI people continue to feature notably in the reports, assessing progress to date and setting out recommendations for the authorities to implement in the future , as well as providing a key tool used by LGBTI organisations in the region to engage with their governments and hold them accountable for the commitments made.

In order to ensure an accurate representation of the developments relating to the human rights of LGBTI people ILGA-Europe, together with our member organisations in EU accession countries, have compiled this submissions to the Progress Reports of the European Commission.

This report reflects developments in the recognition and respect for the human rights of LGBTI people in each accession country during the period from January through December 2018. It is intended to assist the European Commission in assessing the progress made en route to EU accession in each country to date. In addition to outlining key developments and challenges on the road to LGBTI equality, the report also highlights gaps in legislation and policy for the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBTI people, and the priorities which authorities in each country should tackle in the coming year, as identified by LGBTI activists in respective countries.
We hope that this input will be useful in the process of assessing the progress of each country to date, and in identifying key priorities in the coming year.

LGBTI ENLARGEMENT REVIEW 2017

This report reflects developments in LGBTI people’s rights in each accession country since October 2016, in particular in reference to recommendations identified by the European Commission in last year’s Enlargement Reports, as well as highlighting the key priorities that LGBTI organisations have identified for the coming year. As human rights more broadly, and the human rights of LGBTI people more specifically, continue to hold an ever stronger position among the Copenhagen Criteria accession countries are required to meet prior to becoming eligible for admission into the EU, this report is intended to assist the European Commission in assessing the progress made in each country to date, and providing clear guidance on reforms or measures that still need to be taken. In turn, the Enlargement Reports issued by the European Commission are a key tool used by LGBTI organisations in the region to engage with their governments and hold them accountable for the commitments made.

This paper was composed by ILGA-Europe, on behalf of Sarajevo Open Centre, to inform decision-makers in both the EU and its accession countries in the Western Balkans about advocacy priorities regarding LGBTI issues in the region in the coming year.

The situation for LGBTI people is at a pivotal moment in most accession countries. Much has been achieved over the last years, mainly due to EU accession process, with key developments in anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation, respect for freedom of assembly and expression, and an increase in the number and capacity of LGBTI civil society organisations.

Yet much is left to be done to ensure the human rights of LGBTI persons in the region. This is a unique moment in time for taking the next steps. Governments in the region are keen to progress in order to join the EU, which provides an opportunity for the LGBTI movement to reach further to achieve several key aims, including effective implementation of existing legislation across urban and rural areas, promoting an enabling environment for civil society, and pushing for adoption of legal gender recognition and registered partnership for same sex couples.

This paper sets out the state of play and overarching policy aims for the region as a whole in the coming years, as well as shedding light on each country specifically. It wascomposed by ILGA-Europe, on behalf of Sarajevo Open Centre, to inform decision-makers in both the EU and accession countries about advocacy priorities regarding LGBTI issues in the coming years. The paper is based on interviews with and input from LGBTI organisations active in the region: ProLGBT (Albania), SOC and UNDP (Bosnia), CSGD (Kosovo*), Subversive Front and LGBT Support Center (‘The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’), Queer Montenegro (Montenegro), Labris and Gayten (Serbia), ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey, Civil Rights Defenders, Trans Network Balkan and TGEU (regional).