The European Parliament. (source: TASR/AP)
The European Parliament (EP) has called on the Slovak government to take a "clear step" to protect LGBT+ people from hate crimes and stop their rights being violated following the murder of two LGBT+ people in Bratislava.
In a resolution supported by 447 MEPs, the parliament condemned hatred and violence against "persons based on their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sexual characteristics in Slovakia and in the EU", and described the killings as a "cowardly terrorist act" motivated by far-right ideology.
The MEPs also called on the Slovak government to show "real determination to make a clear step forward in the protection of LGBT+ people" and to take a decisive stance against violations of their human rights.
The resolution comes after a 19-year-old Bratislava grammar school student targeted and shot dead two young people outside Tepláreň, one of Bratislava’s two LGBT+ bars, on the evening of October 12.
Another customer, a woman, was also injured in the shooting, which was later reclassified as terrorism.
The murders shocked Slovak society and were followed by massive protests, with an estimated 15,000-20,000 people attending a march in the capital to condemn hate against the LGBT+ community in Slovakia.
