The Saeima, the Latvian parliament, has voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty intended to protect women from violence.
The controversial vote yesterday came less than two years after Latvia had ratified the Convention in January 2024.
The withdrawal had been proposed by the opposition right-wing Latvija Pirmajā (Latvia First) party (LPV) in September.
LPV argued that the Istanbul Convention imposed gender theories that ran counter to traditional family values.
The day before the vote, the party wrote on X: “For years, this convention was presented as being ‘against violence’ but in reality it was a programme of political influence and social re-education hidden behind beautiful words.”
LPV founder Ainārs Šlesers said: “Latvia will not be a place for European ‘Liberals” social experiments and debauchery, which are hidden behind noble names and documents like the ‘Istanbul Convention’. Latvia will withdraw from this farce in the near future.”
Defenders of the treaty argued the country was already seeing elevated levels of domestic violence against women and that its international reputation would suffer by the withdrawal. Opponents also said that the treaty’s references to gender theories were brief and relatively insignificant.
The withdrawal law was finally passed after a 13-hour session of the parliament with a 56 to 32 majority.
LPV and other opposition parties voted in favour of the pull-out. The ruling centrist coalition was split with the Union of Greens and Farmers backing it and the New Unity party of Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa unsuccessfully opposing it.
Before the vote, a mass rally brought more than 5,000 opponents of the move to the streets of Latvia’s capital Riga on October 29. More than 20,000 people have signed a petition against the withdrawal.
Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkēvičs said today he would assess the law adopted by parliament.
The President needs to sign the new law within 10 days for it to come into force. He can also refer it back to parliament for another reading, or appeal to the country’s Constitutional Court.
Mike Collier, a commentator for LSM, the country’s public broadcaster, wrote yesterday that Latvia now had “some explaining to do”. He argued that the vote – which he called “a significant defeat for the government of Prime Minister Siliņa” – was less about women’s rights and more about political intrigue and revenge.
The Istanbul Convention was drafted by the Council of Europe in 2011. As of 2025, it has been signed by 54 mostly western countries including all European Union member states.
If the withdrawal law passes, Latvia would be the second country to pull out of the Convention. The first country to do so was Turkey in 2021.
