This could be a major scandal in the EU

Screen capture of Google News

If it wasn't for yesterday's tragedy in Beirut this news would have, should have been among top news from the EU. It turns out that press reports about EU withholding funding from six Polish towns over 'LGBT-free' zones are false.

EuroNews: The European Union has rejected grants under a twinning programme to six Polish cities because of their attitude to the LGBTQ community. The announcement was confirmed on Twitter by the EU's Equality Commissioner, Helena Dalli. - That's what was reported, but not so fast.

As polsatnews.pl found out, rejected applications concern not 6, but 5 local governments, of which only one adopted such a resolution (LGBT Free Zone). It is Tuchów commune (or municipality) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. According to the findings of the website, the remaining four rejected applications (proposed programs in parenthesis) are as follow: Lwówek county ("The future belongs to us! - Meetings and debate on the future of young Europeans"), Wałcz commune ("Academy of Community Leaders"), Zelów commune ("European Dialogue of Unity") and the Lobzenica commune (Polish-German partnership: overcoming historical stereotypes). 

"None of these local governments have adopted a resolution on LGBT" - emphasizes polsatnews.pl.

Paweł Jabłoński, deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referred to the matter on Twitter. "Yesterday, Commissioner Helena Dalli did not want to answer who specifically did not receive the money 'over LGBT'. Today it turns out that the motions of local governments that did not adopt such resolutions were rejected. Someone probably wanted to boast of a 'right' ideological attitude ... . #fakenews "- he wrote.

While yesterday, most likely in face of tragedy in Beirut, nobody in Polish government was interested in raising the issue it should not be ignored or forgotten. Poland could have lost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in investments over such negative publicity.