Latvia’s parliament on Thursday voted in favor of the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, something unprecedented within the European Union.
The Council of Europe landmark treaty to end violence against women and domestic violence was ratified by Latvia in November 2024.
One of the three parties in the governing coalition, the Union of Greens and Peasants (ZSS), sided with the opposition to push for Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, which was eventually approved by 56 out of 100 MPs.
“This will not have the slightest impact on domestic violence,” argued the ZSS MP Gunnars Guterres to Reuters news agency. “Protection against domestic violence existed in Latvian law even before the Istanbul Convention”he added.
If approved by the President of the Republic, Latvia will become the first EU member state to leave the Istanbul Convention. In 2020, Poland had started the process of withdrawing from the convention, but last year the government of Prime Minister Tusk canceled the plan.
Source :Skai
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