ILGA-Europe and the Equal Rights Association (ERA) have warned that anti-LGBTI legislation and democratic backsliding are becoming a defining feature of the European Union enlargement region, urging Brussels to use accession talks more forcefully to defend fundamental rights.
In the LGBTI Enlargement Review 2026, the organisations assess Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey (Türkiye), and Ukraine. The report argues that the enlargement process gives the European Union real leverage, but that this leverage must be used more explicitly to advance LGBTI rights and to call out laws that run against EU principles of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights.
The review says the situation has worsened compared with previous years. While the 2025 edition focused strongly on the impact of the withdrawal of United States funding for LGBTI organisations, this year’s report identifies legislative regression as the main concern. ILGA-Europe and ERA say laws that “criminalise, erase, and discriminate against LGBTI persons” are multiplying, with particularly serious rollback attempts in Albania, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia and Turkey.
Albania: gender equality law under pressure
In Albania, the main concern is the attempted rollback of the 2025 Gender Equality Law. The law was adopted in November 2025, but has since faced a Constitutional Court challenge and a referendum initiative seeking its repeal.
According to the review, the referendum request goes beyond the gender equality law itself and includes questions on recognising only two genders, defining marriage exclusively as between a man and a woman, restricting sexuality education, limiting adoption and imposing media restrictions. ILGA-Europe and Albanian organisations Aleanca LGBTI and PINK Embassy see this as part of a broader anti-gender mobilisation that uses “family protection” language to attack LGBTI rights.
The report calls on Albania to move forward on legal recognition of same-sex couples, including registered partnerships, and to create a clear legal gender recognition procedure for trans people. It also highlights gaps in hate crime enforcement, online hate speech, domestic violence protections for LBQ women, protection of LGBTI asylum seekers and anti-bullying measures in schools.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: progress blocked by fragmentation
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the report points to the country’s complex institutional structure as a major obstacle. LGBTI organisations want legal gender recognition based on self-determination in the Federation, Republika Srpska (also known as Republic of Srpska or the Serb Republic), and Brčko District. At present, changing gender markers remains difficult and unclear, and in practice requires full surgical transition.
The review also calls for same-sex partnership legislation across the country. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a working group began drafting such a law in October 2025, which the report sees as positive. However, Republika Srpska and Brčko District have not started comparable processes.
The report also criticises recent regressive moves. Republika Srpska replaced the explicit protected ground of “gender identity” in its Criminal Code with the vaguer term “other personal characteristic”, while the Federation narrowed the definition of “close person” in violence legislation to opposite-sex partners only. This excludes same-sex intimate partner violence from key protections.
Georgia: one of the most severe rollbacks
Georgia is presented as one of the most worrying cases. The review focuses on the ‘Law on Protection of Family Values and Minors‘, adopted in 2024 and in force since December that year. The law bans legal gender recognition, same-sex couple recognition, adoption or fostering by LGBTI people, LGBTI-related content in education and public information, and even medical interventions such as hormone therapy.
ILGA-Europe and Georgian organisations say the law has already had a chilling effect, even if not yet fully enforced. They report self-censorship, increased hate crimes, discrimination, worsening mental health in the community and growing social and economic vulnerability.
The report also highlights Georgia’s foreign agent legislation, grant restrictions and amendments removing “gender” and “gender identity” from several laws. Together, these measures are seen as part of a broader attack on civil society and human rights infrastructure. The EU is urged to call for the repeal of the anti-LGBTI law, foreign agent laws and grant restrictions, and to take the deteriorating situation into account when assessing asylum claims from Georgian LGBTI people.
Kosovo: constitutional promise, legislative deadlock
In Kosovo, the report says the legal framework remains insufficient. LGBTI organisations want same-sex marriage included in the Civil Code, pointing to Kosovo’s Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to marry and have a family.
Legal gender recognition is another priority. Kosovo has no specific law regulating the procedure, leaving trans people dependent on lengthy court cases. A draft Law on Civil Status would introduce legal gender recognition provisions more in line with international standards, but it has been stalled since 2023 and must be restarted after the 2025 elections.
The report also calls for stronger protection against online harassment and threats, better implementation of hate crime and anti-discrimination laws, and a formal LGBTI strategy and action plan. It says hate crime provisions are largely non-functional because police and prosecutors often fail to record and apply bias motives.
Moldova: Pride restrictions and anti-propaganda proposals
Moldova is praised for resisting some forms of Russia‘s influence, but the report warns that anti-LGBTI proposals continue to appear regularly. Opposition initiatives have sought to ban so-called ‘LGBT propaganda‘, restrict LGBTI marches, limit LGBTI-related content in education and media, and ban adoption by LGBTI people. In Transnistria, a law banning so-called “non-traditional values” was adopted in 2025.
Chisinau Pride also came under pressure. Mayor Ion Ceban opposed the march and issued an order against its organisation, while national authorities argued that a ban would violate freedom of assembly and expression. The Pride march eventually went ahead, but organisers were fined.
The report urges Moldova to introduce legal gender recognition based on self-determination. A previous amendment that would have allowed changes to names and gender markers was removed from the final version of the Law on Civil Status Documents adopted in July.
Montenegro: good laws, weak implementation
Montenegro remains one of the more advanced countries in the region on paper, especially because it adopted same-sex partnership legislation in 2020. But ILGA-Europe says implementation remains incomplete. Around 20 by-laws still need to be harmonised or adopted for same-sex couples to fully access rights in areas such as social security, taxation and administrative procedures.
The report also highlights the draft Gender Equality Law, which would broaden protection to include sex characteristics, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. However, concerns remain about funding and institutional capacity.
LGBTI organisations also call for a ban on so-called conversion practices, stronger implementation of the National LGBTI Strategy, and more reliable public funding for experienced LGBTI organisations rather than groups without relevant expertise.
North Macedonia: rollback in equality and education
In North Macedonia, the report identifies rollback on rights, especially after amendments removed gender identity and sexual orientation from equality-related protections. LGBTI organisations also point to persistent failures in investigating hate crimes and attacks on LGBTI organisations.
The review notes that there have been no updates on investigations into older attacks on the LGBTIQ Support Centre or vandalism and threats against LGBTI organisations and activists. It also cites violence around Pride-related activities, including an attack on the LGBTI Support Centre and an attempted arson.
The report calls for legal recognition of same-sex couples, legal gender recognition, an LGBTIQ equality strategy and better hate crime enforcement. It also stresses that equality bodies such as the Commission on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination and the Ombudsman need financial autonomy to function properly.
Serbia: no new rollback law, but worsening climate
Serbia has not adopted a new law directly rolling back LGBTI rights, but the report says the broader deterioration of democracy and human rights is affecting LGBTI people, activists and organisations.
Hate speech and violence are increasing. Monitoring by Da se zna! recorded 110 hate incidents in 2025. The report also notes that the trial over the 2023 murder of Noa Milivojev is still ongoing.
The draft law on registered partnerships has been stalled since 2021. A newer proposal from the Green-Left Front, submitted in September 2025 and considered more aligned with human rights standards, has not been taken up by the government. Meanwhile, proposed amendments to the Family Law do not include marriage or any other recognition for same-sex couples.
Türkiye: judicial harassment and possible criminalisation
Türkiye is described as one of the most alarming cases. The report points to proposed anti-LGBTI amendments that would double penalties for certain acts if committed by people of the same biological sex, criminalise the promotion or dissemination of same-sex relations or behaviour, and introduce prison sentences for someone who “carries out a marriage by concealing their biological sex”.
These provisions have appeared in pro-government media as possible parts of judicial reform packages, although they were not included in the final drafts so far.
The report also warns of restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare. In June 2025, the Ministry of Health introduced a minimum age of 21 for access to hormone treatment in the context of gender affirmation.
Civil society is under heavy pressure. Pride events have faced blanket bans and restrictions since 2015, and the report says 2025 showed a new level of targeting, with people detained on suspicion alone. More than 200 participants were detained during International Women’s Day protests in March 2026.
The report also highlights the use of “obscenity” charges and association law to target LGBTI organisations and activists, including the closure order against Genç LGBTİ+ Association in December 2025 and cases against several human rights defenders.
Ukraine: progress overshadowed by Civil Code concerns
Ukraine’s chapter is marked by a contradiction. LGBTI organisations continue to push for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, legal gender recognition and better protection from hate crime, but the review warns that the draft new Civil Code could introduce explicit discrimination against same-sex couples.
ILGA-Europe says that, if adopted in its current form, Ukraine’s Civil Code would create one of the clearest forms of legal discrimination against same-sex couples in the EU and enlargement region, second only to Georgia. The report sees this as a major step backwards for Ukraine’s alignment with the EU acquis and Chapter 23 requirements on judiciary and fundamental rights.
EU asked to be more explicit
Across the region, ILGA-Europe and ERA want the EU to name LGBTI rights more clearly in Enlargement Reports, call out non-implementation of laws and court rulings, and use recent Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) jurisprudence to push for legal reform.
The report points in particular to the April 2026 CJEU ruling against Hungary’s anti-LGBT propaganda law, which found that such legislation violates Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. For ILGA-Europe and ERA, this judgment sends a clear message to candidate countries: anti-LGBTI laws are incompatible with EU membership standards.
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