Polish president vetoes civil partnership bill, PSL MPs quit advisory council in protest
President Karol Nawrocki rejected the government's compromise bill on registered partnerships, prompting two PSL deputies to leave his parliamentary advisory body and the ruling coalition to abandon further negotiations.
Veto decision
President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday that he had vetoed the government's bill on the status of a close person in a relationship and a cohabitation agreement, along with its implementing legislation. In a video posted on social media, he said that nothing resembling a quasi-marriage would receive his support and that the proposed law would undermine the special status of marriage defined in Article 18 of the Constitution as a union of a woman and a man.
Nothing that is a quasi-marriage can count on my support. The same applies to the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
The president stressed that he remained open to regulations solving practical problems of people in informal relationships, provided they did not create an alternative to marriage.
Political reactions
The veto drew sharp criticism from the ruling coalition. Deputy Speaker Piotr Zgorzelski (PSL) called it a failure of the president and his circle, pointing out that nearly 3 million Poles live in informal relationships and expected understanding from the head of state.
The president vetoed the law, but he did not veto reality. He addressed nearly 3 million people who live as they wish. He placed himself in a kind of cultural distance from this group of our compatriots.
Krzysztof Gawkowski, a guest on TVP Info, went further, saying the president had dehumanised people and behaved like a scoundrel and rogue. Nowa Lewica MP Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic argued that the president's political environment always looks for someone to beat and hate, whether it is the LGBT community, Ukrainians, migrants, or women.
On the other side, PiS senator Stanisław Karczewski praised the decision, writing on X that the bill was a covert attempt to introduce same-sex unions and adoption by same-sex couples.
They wanted to quietly introduce the beginnings of same-sex unions and adoption of children by them. That is the truth. President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the bill. Bravo!
Resignations from the presidential council
In an immediate protest, PSL MPs Urszula Pasławska and Urszula Nowogórska resigned from the Presidential Parliamentary Council, a consultative body set up by Nawrocki in January 2026 to foster cross-party dialogue. Pasławska posted on X: "Veto instead of normality." Zgorzelski explained that the reserves of goodwill had been exhausted and that the party wanted to leave no room for accusations that it had not done everything to enable the president to sign the law.
The reserves of goodwill have run out. We did not want to have even a millimetre to reproach ourselves with, that we failed to do something that could have been a hook for the president to sign.
The council now includes Marcin Horała (PiS), Paulina Matysiak (independent), Grzegorz Płaczek (Konfederacja), Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk (PiS), and Witold Tumanowicz (Konfederacja).
What the bill proposed
The vetoed legislation was the first in Polish history to allow the formalisation of partnerships, including same-sex ones. It would have enabled any two adults, regardless of gender, to sign a notarised cohabitation agreement registered at the civil registry office. The agreement could cover joint property, mutual alimony, inheritance, access to a partner's medical information, funeral arrangements, and representation in everyday matters. An annex with the testaments of both parties could also be attached.
What happens next
Minister for Equality Katarzyna Kotula declared that there would be no return to talks on the partnership bill or the status of a close person. Instead, the government will now fight for full marriage equality, starting with joint tax filing and discussions with the finance minister.
There will be no return to talks on the civil partnership bill or the bill on the status of a close person. We are going for marriage equality.
The veto thus marks a definitive break in the search for a compromise on relationship recognition, pushing the debate toward a more fundamental constitutional clash.
