Tag: EU

On 1 March, 2018, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation applied to the Mazovian Voivode for a long-term EU resident permit on the territory of Poland. In the light of recent events, the decision she received after seven months, on 15 October 2018, is not surprising.

The sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will not be lifted. On October 9, a draft resolution that aimed to create conditions conducive to Russia’s return to this institution was rejected.

The case of activist Lyudymyla Kozlovska, president of the Polish-based human rights NGO Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), who was expelled from the EU by the Polish government, is becoming increasingly curious.

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.

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.

Today’s words by W. Waszczykowski about Ukraine are significant: “We also immediately stipulated that the Three Seas Initiative applies only to EU countries. Despite Petro Poroshenko’s requests and begging, Ukraine was not invited – even as an observer.

“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”.

On August 31, the authorised representative of the Open Dialogue 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 Dialogue 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.