Polish president vetoes bills that would have improved rights of same-sex couples

WARSAW, July 17 (Reuters) – Poland’s president vetoed two bills on Friday that would have introduced “cohabitation contracts” for couples living together, dealing a blow to same-sex couples in one of the few European Union countries with limited rights for LGBT people.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office in 2023 pledging to deliver reforms on abortion and LGBT rights, but divisions within his broad pro-European coalition as well as nationalist President Karol Nawrocki’s veto powers mean he has struggled to do so.

The bills on the “status of the closest person in a relationship and the cohabitation agreement” would have allowed two adults to enter into an agreement regulating issues such as joint property rights, access to medical information and matters concerning burial.

The bills had secured support from across the governing coalition, including from the conservative PSL party which had refused to support earlier proposals which they feared would undermine the institution of marriage.

However Nawrocki, an ally of the nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), said the bills still went too far.

“These proposals create a new, formalised institution of family law, equipped with a broad catalogue of rights similar to those of marriage,” he said in a recorded statement.

DEFENDING ‘SPECIAL STATUS OF MARRIAGE’

“As the guardian of the Constitution, I cannot accept a solution that would lead to the loss of the special status of marriage, defined in Article 18 of the Constitution as a union of a man and a woman under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland.”

The government would need a three-fifths majority – with at least half of lawmakers taking part in the vote – to overturn the veto, but with nationalist opposition parties opposed to the bills, this would be practically impossible to achieve.

Katarzyna Kotula, the government official overseeing equality issues, said Nawrocki had “turned his back on two million people living today in informal relationships”.

Given that Poland now recognises same-sex marriages registered abroad due to a ruling by the EU’s top court, Kotula said she would now focus on ensuring that these couples had access to all possible benefits.

Poland’s Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) said the bills vetoed by Nawrocki were “merely a fragment of the first version of the document, which dealt with civil partnerships”.

“Today’s veto of the bill, however, shows that even the absolute minimum of rights the bill was intended to provide is too much for the president.”

(Reporting by Alan CharlishEditing by Gareth Jones)

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