Polish president vetoes civil partnerships bill for same-sex and unmarried couples

Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Friday vetoed a bill that would have legalized civil partnerships, including for same-sex couples. The legislation, proposed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist government, aimed to establish a "status of the closest person" for unmarried partners, granting rights such as joint property rights, access to medical information, and burial rights.

Nawrocki, a conservative, stated that he could not accept a solution that would lead to the loss of the special status of marriage, defined in the Polish Constitution as a union between a man and a woman. "I have always emphasised that nothing that is a quasi-marriage can count on my support," Nawrocki said on X.

The bill was first submitted to parliament last December and aimed to provide legal recognition and rights to unmarried couples, including those of the same sex. The proposed law would allow two adults to enter into a registered partnership before a notary, with the agreement registered at the civil registry office. Partners would have the right to choose their property regime, establish maintenance obligations, and have access to medical information about each other.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized the president's veto, calling it "an expression of contempt toward people and their right to happiness and a normal life" in a post on X.

The president's veto can be overridden with a three-fifths majority vote in the lower house of parliament, although this is rare in Poland. The ruling coalition, led by Tusk's Civic Coalition, has been working to expand rights for LGBTQ+ individuals and had pledged to introduce a bill to legalize civil partnerships within its first 100 days in office. However, governing with more conservative coalition partners and sharing power with Nawrocki has delayed many of their campaign promises on social issues.

A 2025 survey by the state research agency CBOS found that 62% of Poles supported legalizing same-sex partnerships, the highest level of support ever recorded for the measure.

The bill had faced opposition from the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), which argued that the legislation would undermine traditional marriage. Nawrocki, who is affiliated with PiS, had previously indicated that he would not support any legislation that resembled marriage for same-sex couples.

The government's proposal had been designed to ease conservative opposition by stressing that "closest person" unions would not have to be between romantic partners but could also be formed by neighbors or family members. However, this did not sway Nawrocki, who maintained that the legislation would undermine the constitutional definition of marriage.

In response to the veto, Katarzyna Kotula, the government's commissioner for equality, said that Nawrocki was turning his back on two million Poles living in informal relationships. "The support for registered partnerships and equality in marriage is growing," Kotula said in a video on X. "Nawrocki will delay these changes but will not stop them."

Poland, alongside Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia, is one of the last countries in Europe not to have legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions.