Government Submits Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence for Ratification

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told journalists at the Council of Ministers on 3^rd of January that the government adopted a draft Bill to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

The ratification will not lead to a change of the Constitution or to an obligation for Bulgaria to introduce same sex marriages, or to one obliging the country to acknowledge a "third gender", the minister said in response to publications in the media and the concerns of some political forces.

The Patriotic Front (junior partner in the coalition government) expressed concerns related to the ratification and opposed its voting.

Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov told journalists that at Wednesday's meeting of the Council of Minister, eight ministers voted against the adoption of the Istanbul Convention.

The convention has been voted by all 28 EU member states. It has already been ratified by 17.

The convention is now subject to debates in the Bulgarian Parliament.

The Foreign Minister said that the aim of the Istanbul Convention is to overcome the stereotypes that in some parts of the world it is normal for women to be subject to violence, as well as to ensure prevention, from very early age, from any forms of violence.

Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov told journalists that at Wednesday's meeting of the Council of Minister, eight ministers voted against the adoption of the Istanbul Convention.