Poland PM vows to prioritise recognising foreign same-sex marriages
Poland’s PM Donald Tusk made a vow about same-sex marriages (Getty Images)
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has assured that Poland will begin recognising same-sex marriages performed in other European Union countries following major court rulings from both the Court of Justice of the European Union and Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court.
The November 2025 ruling from the European Court of Justice and the 20 March ruling from the NSA stem from a case involving a married same-sex Polish couple whose 2018 German marriage certificate was previously denied entry into Poland’s civil registry.
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (12 May), Tusk apologised for what he described as the “years of rejection and humiliation” faced by same-sex couples in Poland, as per Notes from Poland. “[This is] a matter of human dignity: the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state,” he said.
“I would like to apologise to all those who, for many, many years, felt rejected and humiliated. For many years, the state has failed the test.” Tusk added that his government would make compliance with the court rulings a priority, while stressing that any legal changes would be implemented within the framework of existing Polish law.
The rulings mark a historic shift for Poland, one of the few remaining EU countries that still does not legally recognise same-sex unions domestically. While the decisions do not force Poland to legalise same-sex marriage itself, they do require the country to recognise marriages legally performed elsewhere in the EU.
Last month, after the NSA ruling, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court ordered officials to formally register the German marriage at the centre of the case within 30 days, creating the country’s first de facto state-recognised same-sex marriage.
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