On 6 July 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian girl from Lahore, and calling on Pakistan to protect religious minority girls. The resolution threatens to review Pakistan's trade preferences under the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) if human rights violations persist.
The resolution, tabled by the PfE Group led by Mieke Andriese, addresses the case of Maria Shahbaz, who disappeared in July 2025 and later appeared in court claiming voluntary conversion to Islam and marriage to a 30-year-old Muslim man. Her family says her statements were made under coercion. In February 2026, Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court granted custody to the alleged abductor. The resolution also notes that Punjab adopted the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2026 raising the minimum marriage age to 18, but implementation remains insufficient. Additionally, a Dutch woman and her friend were recently kidnapped, raped and extorted in Lahore; police arrested the grandson of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
The Parliament calls for Maria Shahbaz's immediate protection and reunification with her family, effective implementation of the Punjab Child Marriage Act, and abolition of blasphemy laws including the death penalty. It also calls on the European Commission and the European External Action Service to assess Pakistan's GSP+ compliance and consider appropriate measures. Pakistan benefits from GSP+ preferences conditional on human rights convention implementation. The resolution is a non-binding political statement, but it signals the Parliament's position ahead of any potential review of trade preferences by the Commission and Council.