Trend Continues in Central and East Europe: Slovakia Defines Marriage in Constitution as a Union between a Man and a Woman
Yesterday, the 5th June 2014, a large majority of
the Slovakian Parliament voted to define marriage as "a unique bond
between a man and a woman". With this decision, the Slovak Republic
followed Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Hungary and Croatia. It is becoming
clear that more and more Central and Eastern European countries choose to
protect the definition of marriage and do not succumb to influenced exerted by
large LGBT pressure groups. Interestingly enough, however, mainstream
international media like Euronews do not mention these developments at all,
which only proves how biased the press is.
The Slovak decision reiterates, once again, that the definition of marriage should never be an EU competence, but that the member states should always decide this for themselves. It is also interesting that this issue seems to increasingly divide West Europe from Central and Eastern Europe. I am curious to see whether Western countries who advocate for same-sex marriages will respect the freedom of these countries to amend or establish their national constitutions based on the will of their people: a freedom they have fought for 25 years ago.
The Slovak decision reiterates, once again, that the definition of marriage should never be an EU competence, but that the member states should always decide this for themselves. It is also interesting that this issue seems to increasingly divide West Europe from Central and Eastern Europe. I am curious to see whether Western countries who advocate for same-sex marriages will respect the freedom of these countries to amend or establish their national constitutions based on the will of their people: a freedom they have fought for 25 years ago.
The amendment was supported by Social-Democrats (SMER) and Christian Democrats (KDH) and was passed with an impressive majority in the chamber: 102
parliamentarians voted in favor of the constitutional amendment, while 18 voted
against.
According to the website Turtlebay and Beyond http://www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/), the Constitution was amended to make attempts to re-define marriage less likely in the future and that this amendment seeks to go further than banning same-sex “marriages”. Its explanatory referendum specifies that “it will be impossible for the rights and duties associated with marriage to be conferred in any way other than a legally recognized union between a man and a woman". Although only in an explanatory memorandum, the statement seeks to outlaw any form of union for same-sex couples."
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