The European Union today slammed US President George Bush's decision to bar overseas funding for groups that perform or advocate abortion, calling it a setback for women's rights.
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"It's a step backwards," EU Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said during a press conference in this southern Swedish town, where EU social affairs ministers held an informal meeting.
"Why it is so easy to undo what we have earned during the last years, to change in one day the policies concerning women rights," she asked.
"The European Union can't influence Bush, but we can express our disappointment," she added.
Swedish Gender Equality Minister Margareta Winberg said Bush's decision was "not a small issue" and that both Sweden and the EU "have struggled so many years to get proper legislation" on abortion.
Sweden currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Winberg said she would ask Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson to raise the issue at the next EU-US summit. No date has been fixed for that meeting, but it is due to be held before the Swedish presidency concludes in June.
On his first working day in office as new president on Monday, Bush reimposed a ban on the use of US federal funds for overseas groups that perform or advocate abortions.
AFP