Latvia 'will have to respect' rules protecting women even if it quits Istanbul Convention

The European Commission said on Friday that member state Latvia will still be obliged to respect international rules for the protection of women as the country debates a controversial move to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

The comments come after the Latvian parliament voted to quit the treaty on the basis that it promotes "radical feminism based on the ideology of gender".

The move to walk away from the Istanbul Convention is seen by civil society organisations as backtracking on fundamental rights.

Before it comes into effect, President Edgars Rinkēvičs will have to decide whether to ratify the decision over the next 10 days.

The Istanbul Convention is a treaty aiming to prevent and combat violence against women, signed by all the European Union’s member states and several other nations outside the EU, like the United Kingdom and Norway.

Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania have not ratified the convention. If the country's president confirms the motion, Latvia would be the first EU country to withdraw from the treaty after its ratification in January 2024.

The parliament which first ratified it would be the same one calling for its exit a year later.

The EU as a whole acceded to the Istanbul Convention in 2023, making it a legally binding agreement for the 27 member states in areas falling under the EU's competence. Those include EU institutions and the public administration, judicial cooperation in fighting crime, and asylum rights.

“These parts [...] are part of the legal order, which means all member states are bound by them”, a Commission spokesperson said during a press briefing on Friday in Brussels.

The European Commission refused to comment on the vote and, when asked by Euronews, said it is too early to make an assessment. “We have to respect national processes in our member states," the spokesperson said.

In the past, the EU condemned the Turkish government for quitting the convention in 2021. At the time, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the move was "deeply worrying".

Parliament decision sparks controversy

The move to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention was approvedby Latvia’s unicameral parliament by 56 votes to 32, with two abstentions.

The motion was pushed by the far-right party Latvia First, which claims that the national criminal law already includes “the rules that are featured in the convention”. The party also pointed to what it describes as deeply ideological motives.

“The Istanbul Convention is a product of radical feminism based on the ideology of gender", Latvia First wrote in a statement to Euronews.

The party disputes in particular Article 3 of the treaty, which identifies “gender” as “the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men” without making a reference to biological sex.

It also accuses the Convention of obliging signatories “to include gender ideology in school curricula.”

The exact text featured in the Convention urges the participating countries to “include teaching material on issues such as equality between women and men, non-stereotyped gender roles, mutual respect [...]”.

Experts in Latvia suggest that the issue has been too politicised and taken out of context from what is a call to respect fundamental rights for women.

“Opposition members of parliament are using the term gender against the whole convention”, Beata Jonite, head of policy and advocacy at the MARTA Centre, a Latvian organisation that helps victims of domestic violence told Euronews.

She added that despite Latvia having some of these provisions in its national criminal law, withdrawing from the “best globally known international agreement, made specifically to protect victims of domestic violence, sends a very concerning signal”.

Carlien Scheele, director of the European Gender Equality Institute, told Euronews that the motion from Latvia proves that women’s rights are being dismantled.

“Turning away from this shared commitment sends a devastating message: that women’s lives and rights are negotiable. They are not”, she said.

Latvia's President Edgars Rinkēvičs wroteon Friday that he would consider the decision “taking into account state and legal considerations, rather than ideological or political ones”.

He did not specify when or even if he would ratify it, a step required for the withdrawal to take effect.