The European Commission has issued a statment stating that respecting the rights of the LGBT community is a legal criterion for a counties EU admission.

Rights of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people thus form an integral part of both the Copenhagen political criteria for accession and the EU legal framework on combatting discrimination. They are closely monitored by the EU commission, which reports annually on the progress made by enlargement countries with regard to the situation of the LGBT community,”

Austrian Green MEP who co-chairs a European Parliament gay rights group states that “Accession of a country will not be possible if certain LGBTI rights are not put into law and into practice. Non-discrimination in the field of employment, for instance, has become part of the acquis,”

Currently the recognized candidates for EU admittance are Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey.

The Ukraine which is currently attempting to join the European Union cancelled a vote on legislation that would ban any Ukrainian citizen from speaking out favorably about homosexuality much like the draconian “gay propaganda law” that was recently passed in St. Petersburg, Russia.