Slovakia amends constitution to promote 'national identity'

Slovakia’s laws will take precedence over EU legislation in matters concerning “national identity,” including issues of family and gender, under a constitutional change approved by parliament on Friday.

Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has taken an increasingly anti-liberal position on social issues while forging closer ties with Russia and China on the international stage, has billed the constitutional change as “a dam against progressivism.”

Critics of Fico, including human rights activists and some legal experts, fear the amendment will threaten Slovakia’s commitments to EU laws and international treaties.

The amendment states that male and female will be the only recognized genders, and that school curriculums must respect the cultural and ethical positions set out in the constitution. It will also tighten rules on adoption.

The change was approved with the minimum necessary 90 votes in the 150-seat lower house with the help of some conservative members of the opposition.

“The Slovak Republic maintains sovereignty above all in issues of national identity,” the amendments say, in particular on cultural and ethical issues.

A report accompanying the bill stated it was fully in line with EU law, including the issues of precedence of European law.

Amnesty International said the changes targeted LGBTI+ and reproductive rights.

“This is devastating news. Instead of taking concrete measures to protect the rights of LGBTI+ people, children, and women, our parliament voted to adopt constitutional amendments that put the constitution in direct conflict with international law,” Amnesty Slovakia chief Rado Sloboda said in a statement.

The Venice Commission, a panel of legal experts of the Council of Europe rights body, also criticized the amendments.

“The vague and broad formulations such as ‘national identity’ and ‘cultural and ethical issues’ … pose serious risks of unpredictable and arbitrary interpretation and application…,” it said earlier this week.

However, it praised the amendment’s commitment to eliminate the gender pay gap.

Fico’s government has accused liberal protesters of planning a coup, changed laws to tighten rules for non-governmental organizations, increased control over public broadcasters, and attacked independent media as foreign agents.