By majority vote today, Saeima deputies forwarded President Edgars Rinkēvičs’ vetoed law on denouncing the Istanbul Convention back to the Foreign Affairs Committee, setting a one-year period for submitting amendments.
Proposals to the bill may be submitted until the 1st of November, 2026. Parliamentary elections will be held in early October next year, and the newly elected Saeima could convene for its first sitting in early November—meaning the law on withdrawal from the Convention will be reconsidered by the next parliament.
The one-year proposal window was approved by 53 MPs from New Unity, The Progressives, the United List and the National Alliance; 18 MPs from Latvia First and For Stability! voted against; Skaidrīte Ābrama abstained; and ZZS politicians—who had previously supported withdrawal—along with a few other MPs, chose not to participate in the vote. The longer deadline was proposed in committee by Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica (New Unity), a supporter of remaining in the Convention.
As reported, President Rinkēvičs has called for the decision to be left to the next Saeima, to be elected in less than a year.
As explained on the parliament’s website, when a law is returned for reconsideration, the Saeima forwards the President’s substantiated objections to a committee without debate and sets deadlines for submitting proposals and for repeated consideration.
The reconsideration follows third-reading rules:
during this stage, only the President’s objections and related amendments are examined. If the Saeima does not amend the law, the President cannot object a second time, as stipulated by the Constitution.
On the 30th of October, with votes from the opposition and the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), the Saeima adopted the law on Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. The bill was submitted by the opposition party Latvia First (LPV) and supported by the National Alliance (NA), the United List (AS) and For Stability!, as well as ZZS politicians in the ruling coalition. The governing coalition parties New Unity (JV) and The Progressives did not support withdrawal. Fifty-six MPs voted in favour, 32 against, and two—Igors Rajevs and Didzis Šmits—abstained. Debate lasted more than 13 hours.
The majority-backed decision to withdraw sparked broad public dissatisfaction—both through signature drives urging politicians to revisit the decision and in a rare, large-scale protest. ZZS’s move to side with the opposition on the Istanbul Convention also led to the de facto collapse of Prime Minister Evika Siliņa’s (New Unity) governing coalition, with distrust running high among partners and sharp public statements exchanged.
Many NGOs, as well as New Unity and The Progressives, urged the President not to promulgate the law
and to return it to the Saeima for reconsideration.
Most experts and NGOs working on violence prevention oppose withdrawal, warning it would weaken protections for victims and harm Latvia’s international standing among Western allies. Following the vote, Amnesty International stated that Latvia’s withdrawal would be a devastating blow to the protection and rights of women and girls, and to all experiencing domestic violence, sending a dangerous signal of impunity to abusers. The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Rousopoulos, likewise called the Saeima’s decision a dangerous signal.
In Latvia, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence—the Istanbul Convention—entered into force on 1 May 2024. It requires member states to develop coordinated policies to better protect women from all forms of violence and both women and men from domestic violence, including comprehensive victim support and protection, crisis centres, a 24/7 helpline, specialised support for survivors of sexual violence, and protection and support for children who witness violence.
Read also: National Alliance supports President’s call to leave Istanbul Convention decision to the next Saeima