Dutch family minister André Rouvoet has distanced himself from the anti-homosexual statements of the Slovakian European parliament member Anna Zaborska, report various media on Monday.

Zaborska is reported to have said some years ago that Aids is God’s punishment for homosexuality. The comment was publicised again last week in the run up to the controversial World Congress of Families in Amsterdam where Zaborska is one of the speakers.
Criticism against Rouvoet for agreeing to give the opening address at the event, which starts on Monday, continued at the weekend.
The conference is organised by an alliance of orthodox Christian and right-wing organisations which want to promote ‘traditional family values’ and are against homosexual relationships.
‘The fact that the minister is giving a welcome speech via a video message cannot be seen as an opinion on the diverse views of [the conference’s] participants,’ a spokesman for Rouvoet, a member of the orthodox Christian ChristenUnie party, is quoted as saying in today’s Telegraaf.