Tag: #BringHerBack

Poland is abusing EU visa systems to punish government critics, an activist has said, in a case which highlights Europe’s loss of trust in Warsaw.

On Wednesday 26 September 2018, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, was invited to the European Parliament, in Brussels, by Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group, to deliver her speech on the rule of law and the situation of the civil society in Poland.

I am here thanks to the uncompromising Members of the German Bundestag and delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, our hosts who truly care about the state of the rule of law, civil liberties and human dignity in Europe.

Less than a month after Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s expulsion by the Law and Justice government in retaliation for her husband’s (Bartosz Kramek) opposition activity, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation returned to the territory of the European Union.

Less than a month after Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s expulsion by the Law and Justice government in retaliation for her husband’s (Bartosz Kramek) opposition activity, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation returned to the territory of the European Union. German parliamentarians invited her to a hearing.

Following the expulsion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), from Poland, large pro-government media, from the Polish Radio to ‘Gazeta Polska’, were quoting Kazakhstani, Moldovan and Ukrainian media in their coverages.

“Many people and organisations from the ‘pro-democratic side of the barricade’ have had dilemmas, or have openly opposed Lyudmyla’s support (…). But it is these very ‘controversies’ around Lyudmyla Kozlovska herself and the ODF that give us a better chance for our test. The solidarity test”.

A group of Demparty deputies has proposed creating a parliamentary commission that is supposed to conduct an inquest into the circumstances of supposedly illegal interference in the internal affairs of Moldova by the Open Dialogue Foundation and its head Lyudmyla Kozlovska.

On August 31, the authorised representative of the Open Dialog Foundation, attorney Izabela Banach submitted to the Office for Foreigners a request to remove the personal data of Lyudmyla Kozlovska contained in the Schengen Information System I and II.

Is the expulsion of the head of the Open Dialog Foundation from the EU at the request of Poland a victory for the Russian services, for the ODF having gotten under their skin? That’s what Andrzej Wielowieyski and Marcin Święcicki think.

Before expelling Mrs Kozlovska to Kyiv, the Belgian authorities should have checked first whether this expulsion would not violate her rights to freedom of expression, family life, or effective judicial protection, but certainly her right to residence as a family member of a EU citizen.

The Ombudsman Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich raised the matter of President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, whose name has been put in the Schengen Information System by Plish authorities, resulting in a ban on entry on the territory of the European Union.

On 23 August, Bartosz Kramek, Head of the Foundation Board, was a guest of Marek Kacprzak, a journalist of Wirtualna Polska, in the @Tłit_WP audition. During the interview, he commented on the expulsion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the ODF, from the territory of the European Union.

Ukrainian activists, journalists and human rights defenders express their indignation at the deportation of Lyudmyla Kozlovska from Poland and the EU. Moreover, politicians from several Ukrainian parties asked the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain explanations from the Polish side.

“I have filed a parliamentary question with the Prime Minister regarding the prohibition of entry into the Schengen Area issued in the case of Lyudmyla Kozlovska ” – this is what Marcin Święcicki Member of the Polish Sejm posted on his Facebook profile on 22 August, 2018.