The public debate on the bill for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the Istanbul Convention, organized by National Assembly President Tsveta Karayancheva, ended up as a clash of polarized opinions, with neither side showing any willingness to alter their stance.
The debate was joined by MPs, representatives of the executive, of NGOs, the principal religious denominations as well as experts. Before that, the document split parliament down the middle. GERB firmly supports the document, while the United Patriots and the Bulgarian Socialist Party are against, as is the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The opponents of the Convention allege it will lead up to the introduction of the so-called “gender ideology” in Bulgarian legislation – the blurring the notion of “sex” by introducing a socially rather than biologically based definition, and will prepare the ground for demands for the recognition of the so-called “third sex” and same-sex marriage.
The Council of Europe has urged Bulgaria to ratify the Convention, as did EC Vice-President Frans Timmermans during his visit to Sofia on Monday.
Daily Mail Online published a letter from former teacher Simon Hill under the title “I’m living the Bulgarian retirement dream”. The retiree and his wife own two properties in Bulgaria. They get better healthcare, enjoy hot summers and ski in the..
Bulgaria and the United States are to expand the scope of their Intergovernmental Agreement for cooperation on the project for the construction of a new unit at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant and the civil nuclear programme. This possibility was..
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Kondov is leading the Bulgarian delegation at the 45th session of the Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie, which will be held on October 3 in Paris, the Foreign Ministry announced. The foreign ministers..
In December this year the Ministry of Finance will have covered the last of the criteria for accession to the Eurozone – inflation, said caretaker..
On Saturday, the lowest temperatures will be between 14 and 19°C; in Sofia - about 16°C. In the western regions, the highest..
30 buildings across the country will be illuminated in green tonight to mark European Donation Day – the European Day for Organ, Tissue and Cell..
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