In a case brought by a Polish gay couple who married in Berlin in 2018 but were unable to register their marriage in Poland as the law there does not recognise same-sex marriage, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on Tuesday said EU member states were obliged to recognise a same-sex marriage between two EU citizens that had been “lawfully concluded in another member state”. The ECJ said that while marriage rules fell within each member state’s competence, “countries were required to comply with EU law in exercising that competence.” As EU citizens, the Polish couple who married in Germany had the right to freedom of movement and the right to lead a family life, the court explained. Since the Netherlands recognised same-sex marriage in 2001, several other EU countries have followed suit, but others, such as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, have not. Predictably, reactions to the ruling depended on the political spectrum: the leftish parties in the ruling coalition welcomed the court’s decision, with Katarzyna Kotula, the minister for equality issues who is a member of the Left Party, saying: “This is a historic ruling that begins a completely new phase in the legal protection of same-sex couples… It clearly states that Poland is obligated to transcribe foreign marriage certificates of same-sex couples.” The new right-wing populist president, Karol Nawrocki, was less effusive, with his office declaring that Poland “would not succumb to the terror of rainbow rulings” that “completely destroy the family”. Given Nawrocki’s position on same-sex partnerships, passing legislation in favour of same-sex unions would not get past his veto, so in order to comply with the ECJ ruling the coalition must find a non-legislative path to recognise foreign same-sex marriages. If Poland is deemed by the ECJ to have failed to implement the ruling, it could face hefty fines until it does so.
Another eastern European university degree scandal erupted this week, this time in Poland. Prosecutors have issued the first indictments in a fraud and corruption scandal surrounding a private university, Collegium Humanum – Warsaw Management University, which is accused of issuing diplomas to students who didn’t actually do the required work for such a degree. Among the 29 who will ultimately be indicted were the mayor of Poland’s third-largest city, two former members of the European Parliament, and a former presidential spokesman, some of whom used the college to obtain MBAs, which then helped them secure lucrative positions at state-owned companies, according to Notes from Poland. “Searches at the university’s premises confirmed a widespread practice, encompassing not only irregularities in the issuance of postgraduate MBA diplomas, but also bachelor’s and master’s degree diplomas,” said the National Prosecutor’s Office. One of those indicted was Jacek Sutryk, the mayor of Wroclaw, who is facing four charges relating to fraud and corruption. Prosecutors say Sutryk, who is aligned with Poland’s ruling coalition, paid over 2,000 euros in tuition fees to receive an MBA, but didn’t actually undertake any of the required studies. In return, the then rector of Collegium Humanum, named as Pawel Cz. by prosecutors, is accused of receiving a position on the council of a municipal technology park in Wroclaw for which he was paid over 17,000 euros for advisory services that he did not actually provide. Both men deny the charges.