Malta foreign minister a 'dinosaur': Swedish MEP
Published: 12 Nov 12 14:50 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/44380/20121112/
A Swedish member of the European Parliament was Monday spearheading efforts to thwart the appointment of Malta's European Commissioner designate Tonio Borg because of his conservative views on women's rights.
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"I plan to take the lead so we can vote against him. We cannot accept him. This is not a commissioner for the 21st century," she said.
Borg, who is also Malta's foreign minister and deputy prime minister, has been tapped to replace fellow Maltese national John Dalli as EU health and consumer commissioner, who stepped down in October following allegations of influence peddling.
See Wikström's interview below (in Swedish)
Borg has been a frequent target of criticism over his ultraconservative views, including during his campaign against the legalization of abortion in Malta last year.
He is due to appear before the European Parliament for a hearing on Tuesday.
Wikström, who is a vicar in the Swedish Lutheran Church, said she hoped the Parliament would vote against him.
"This is about human rights, about allowing people to choose how they want to live their lives," she said.
"He is against divorce (and) women's rights in general. He is against letting women choose freely how they want to live their lives, for example on abortion. And he's totally against sexual and reproductive health and rights," she said.
AFP/The Local
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Ms Wikström, a Lutheran vicar, seems to trying to make the European parliament a place to promote her own religious views, and condemn the religious views of others. She can be an EU politician, or she can be a whacko extremist protestent vicar with a tendency to make religious rants on You Tube; she can not be both. A resignation seems in order.
Perhaps Cecilia should send the Maltese people a list of people she does approve of, so they can get it right next time? I'm sure they would appreciate that.
you cannot represent the well-being of men and women EU wide when your views on sexual and reproductive medicine reads from a 1950s journal and you don't trust an individual's right to chose their own civil status.
if malta wants him, malta should keep him. he should not be able to influence my medical care.