Lawmakers will postpone until September a vote on amending Slovakia's constitution to give national laws precedence over European Union legislation and other international treaties on matters of "national identity," the TASR news agency and other media reported.
This decision was announced by the head of the ruling party's parliamentary group, and comes after the government has so far failed to secure the necessary three-fifths majority in parliament needed to amend the constitution, Reuters reports.
Critics, including some legal experts, express concern that the amendment being pushed by the left-wing nationalist government could call into question Slovakia's commitment to European Union laws and international treaties.
Under EU rules, European Union legislation takes precedence over the laws of member states in cases of divergence, a principle that legal experts warn could be undermined by the proposed constitutional amendment in Slovakia.
The change relates to issues of national identity linked to "fundamental cultural-ethical issues" concerning family life, marriage, public morality and some other areas.
The amendment also stipulates that only male and female will be recognized as genders, and that school curricula must respect the constitution, including its cultural and ethical views. It would also tighten rules for adopting children.
Prime Minister Robert Fico's government, which has only a slim majority in parliament, proposed these changes earlier this month, seeking, as he put it, "to erect a dam against progressivism."
Fico has taken an increasingly illiberal stance on human rights, drawing on his pro-Russian foreign policy. He advocates closer relations with Russia and China, and criticizes European Union sanctions against Moscow and EU military aid to Ukraine.
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