Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed legislation legalising civil unions on Thursday, blocking a measure that would have granted same-sex couples their first formal recognition under Polish law.
The bill, passed by both chambers of parliament, would have introduced a registered partnership status open to two adults regardless of gender. Nawrocki argued in a video address that the measure created a "quasi-marriage" and conflicted with his view of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The veto was announced on 17 July.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose centrist government had championed the bill, condemned the veto as contempt for people. Poland remains among the last EU members without any legal framework for same-sex unions, alongside Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Nawrocki signed nine other laws on the same day.