Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has confronted Arab leaders over the repression of gay rights, telling them his same-sex marriage would condemn him to death in some of their countries.
The conference room at a summit of EU and Arab states fell silent when Bettel made his statement, according to a German TV journalist.
Retweeting this account, Bettel wrote: “Saying nothing was not an option for me.” The tweet was signed with his initials.
Bettel, the first EU leader to be married to a same-sex partner, had planned to make the intervention before arriving at the summit, which was the first gathering between the EU and Arab League.
Homosexuality is punishable by death under sharia law in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. Other countries in the region prohibit same-sex acts, including Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Syria, Kuwait and some of the United Arab Emirates. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Thursday, February 28, 2019
