Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have been billed the three worst countries in terms of gay rights in the whole of the European Union, according to the Rainbow Europe think tank.

Latvia (17.35 percent), Lithuania (18.10 percent) and Poland (18.30 percent) fared worst among the 28 countries of the European Union.

Poland is one of a handful of countries which ban same-sex civil unions.

The best ranking countries in the Rainbow Europe list were Malta (87.75 percent) and Belgium (81.85 percent).

Rainbow Europe is a European think tank which “brings together both the legal index of LGBTI equality based on our Rainbow Europe Map and an overview of the social climate for LGBTI people in each country based on [its] Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe”. (rg)