Mario Mauro must not be elected President of the European Parliament: Mauro does not represent the values expressed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, he is a promoter of homophobic and xenophobic ideologies and challenges European civil and democratic achievements

by EveryOne Group – www.everyonegroup.com

May 1, 2009. A year ago, on May 20th, 2008, Mario Mauro (Pdl, and one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament) affirmed that the problem of marginalization and persecution from the institutions of the Roma people in Italy was just “a pretext by the European left-wing to delegitimize the Berlusconi government”. He then announced an important initiative by the Italian Government which was to ensure the Roma people dignity and integration. This initiative, as we all saw, turned out to be brutal camp clearances without the offer of alternative lodgings or medical care for the sick, children and pregnant women. It resulted in a painful series of expulsions, racist measures, and a limitation of fundamental rights. A humanitarian tragedy that will be remembered in years to come as a new Holocaust.
The Hon. Mauro, who was also in favour of the ethnic profiling of the Roma people (with fingerprinting), has several times judged unacceptable and unfounded the findings of Thomas Hammarberg, the European Commissioner for Human Rights, concerning the situation of the Roma in Italy.

But Mario Mauro’s attitude to other minorities is no less worrying. According to the Hon. Mauro, in the European Parliament there exists a “gay lobby” led by the LGBT Intergroup, and headed by the MEP Michael Cashman. The European Union (again according to the Hon. Mauro) is “incompetent in the regulation of family, common law marriage and homosexual unions”. The Hon. Mauro is also opposed to Gay Pride, the most important demonstration for the rights of homosexuals and transgenders and - what is even more disconcerting - during his mandate he has challenged the approval at the European Parliament of a resolution against homophobia, declaring: “The resolution on homophobia is an ideological document which has little reference to the real protection of the fundamental rights of the individual. It sounds more like a manifesto celebrating the destruction of values which gave origin to the European Union as a political project. […] By approving such texts, which are openly in contradiction with the treaties and also with common sense, we would merely obtain the result of encouraging the citizens’ detachment from our institutions”. Mauro is also the principal detractor of the 2004-2008 Report on the Situation of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, drawn up by the MEP Giusto Catania which was approved with 401 votes, and defined by Mauro as “shamelessly ideological and in many ways incoherent”. Could this be because it defends the rights (among other things) of the Roma people and discriminated-against homosexuals?

Over the last few days there has been talk of Mario Mauro as a possible “leader for the European Parliament”. We are asking all the democratic politicians and people of common sense - whether right or left wing - not to allow an advocate of intolerance, xenophobia and homophobia to rise to such an important office for European civilization. The Hon. Mauro has also on many occasions attempted to undermine the far-sightedness and integrity of the European Parliament and Council and has shown himself to think in ways contrary to the civil and democratic achievements of the European institutions. Electing him to a role that is so representative of European values; values founded on a culture of human rights and democracy, would mean (for the first time since the start of the virtuous processes which have led to the Member States sharing goals of civility) taking a step backwards from the ideals at the root of one of the greatest and most noble projects ever to be conceived on our continent.

The Hon. Mauro must be respected for the coherence of his political ideas, but at the same time we must also respect the philosophy of those who gave rise to the dream of the European Union and those who keep it together: a philosophy that is far removed from the political convictions often expressed by the present Vice-President of the European Parliament. Read the interview given by Mauro to the newspaper "Il sussidiario.net" for an example of his way of thinking:

 http://www.ilsussidiario.net/articolo.aspx?articolo=2181

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