Civil Unions Are Coming To Croatia

Croatian Public Administration Minister Arsen Bauk has announced that the government will draw up a law recognizing civil unions for same-sex couples.

Same-sex couples will enjoy all the rights and responsibilities of any other married couple, such as inheritance from a deceased partner, social security benefits and tax deductions, but their union will ''not be called 'marriage," but "life partnership," said the minister. He went on to say that the ceremonies would be held in town councils, as is the case with marriages. The centre-left government has repeatedly said that adoptions will not be allowed, although it is weighing whether to bring in the right 'of one member of the couple to adopt the biological child of the other, if the natural parent is unknown or no longer alive." Many lesbian couples live in Croatia, one of which has conceived through artificial insemination by an unknown donor, and ''it is now important that the State recognise this reality and gives guarantees even to the other mother."

According to the above-linked article, civil unions will go into effect by the end of this year.