The center-left government of Croatian
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic has proposed new legal rights for gay
and lesbian couples.
The move comes less than 2 weeks after
voters approved amending Croatia's constitution to define marriage as
a heterosexual union in a referendum organized by the Catholic
Church.
According to the AP, the “life
partnership” legislation introduced Thursday would for the first
time recognize the relationships of gay couples. However, the union
offers far fewer rights than marriage and gay couples would not be
allowed to adopt children.
The bill is likely to succeed given the
government's legislative majority.
Milanovic said the legislation upholds
“good European standards.”
Croatia entered the European Union (EU)
in July, making it the 28th and newest member.