BRATISLAVA. The Slovak Family Convention called on President Zuzana Čaputová and Prime Minister Petr Pellegrini (Smer-SD) to notify the Council of Europe in writing that Slovakia is not going to become a party to the Istanbul Convention.
According to the initiative, "the treacherously hidden harmful gender ideology is against God, solid science and common sense, and nature". They wanted to draw attention to this at a prayer meeting on the day of the memory of Our Lady of Lourdes, which they organized on Tuesday in Bratislava's Freedom Square.
According to police estimates, around a thousand people came to support them. Among them were the leaders of political parties Štefan Harabin (Oblast), Andrej Danko (SNS) and Marian Kotleba (ĽSNS).
After yesterday's meeting of the three highest constitutional officials, President Zuzana Caputova said that she would not ask Slovakia to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. "The ratification of the Istanbul Convention could only take place if it was submitted to the National Council of the Slovak Republic, and this has not happened so far," she explained. She also stressed that the Convention did not apply in Slovakia and that the current situation has been since 2011.
The meeting was supposed to be led by pastor Marián Kuffa, but he did not come because it was banned by the diocesan bishop of Štefan Štefan Sečka. Kuffa informed about it directly at the meeting through a broadcast video on a large screen.
“This meeting is for everyone who cares about keeping families in Slovakia properly. The President of the Istanbul Convention may withdraw or resign. If it's against her conscience, let her resign, ” he said in the video.
Citizens' Initiative Coordinator Slovak Family Convention Erik Zbiňovský said there are many harmful things in the Istanbul Convention.
“It looks primarily like the Convention on the Protection of Women. It has 90 percent of the content in order, but 10 percent is the introduction of a new ideology like communism and fascism ever had, and there gender is separated from gender. We do not agree that this should be introduced into Slovak legislation and that children in our schools should teach it. In the Istanbul Convention, they even want to educate at all levels of education, including in kindergartens, ”he said.
He added that the initiative has been organizing lectures around Slovakia on "the harmfulness of gender ideology and the ill elements of the Istanbul Convention" for four years. He also plans to continue this.