56 deputies, mainly from opposition parties and the coalition Union of Greens and Peasants (GPU), voted in favor of leaving, and 32 deputies from the ruling New Unity and Progressive parties voted against, the article says.
The decision caused a 12-hour debate in parliament and mass protests in Riga – on October 29, about 5 thousand people gathered near the Seimas who opposed the denunciation, the publication notes. 17 amendments were submitted to the second reading, but the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs rejected all of them.
Supporters of the exit said that the convention imposes “another gender ideology” and contradicts “traditional values,” while the opposition believes that this step brings Latvia closer to the aggressor country Russia and damages the country’s international image, journalists write.
Now the bill must be signed by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevich.
Diplomats from 15 European countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden and Poland, in a joint letter expressed concern about Latvia’s intention to withdraw from the convention, the media emphasizes. They recalled that the document is “the most comprehensive legal framework to combat violence against women and domestic violence” and is already in force in 38 European countries, and from 2023 – in the EU itself.
Context
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence opened for signature on 11 May 2011 in Istanbul. The convention was signed by 46 countries and the European Union.
Ukraine signed the convention in 2011 and ratified it in 2022 with statements and warnings. Installedthat Ukraine does not consider any of the provisions of the convention as obliging it to make changes to the Constitution and the Family Code and other laws regarding the institutions of marriage, family, adoption and the right of parents to raise children according to their own convictions. In addition, it is indicated that as a result of large-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation, Ukraine cannot guarantee the fulfillment of the obligations provided for by the convention in the temporarily occupied territories until the constitutional order of Ukraine is restored there, Liga.Zakon noted.
