Tusk said on Tuesday that the government would prepare a regulation allowing the transcription of same-sex marriage certificates into Poland’s civil registry.
Transcription means entering a foreign civil status document, such as a marriage certificate, into Polish official records.
Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, Tusk said the move was required by rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union and Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court (NSA).
He framed the issue as one of the rule of law, human dignity and equal treatment by the state.
“We have committed ourselves, and I will personally make sure of it, to respect the rulings of both European tribunals and Polish courts first of all,” Tusk said. “So this is a matter of the rule of law. To an even greater extent, it is also a matter of human dignity and human rights.”
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Poland. The new measure would apply to the registration of marriages legally concluded in other European Union countries, following court rulings that Poland must recognize such marriages for civil registry purposes.
Tusk acknowledged that Poles hold different views on same-sex relationships, shaped by tradition, faith, personal experience and politics. He said the state still had a duty to treat people with dignity.
“We differ on this issue in our views and opinions,” he said. “But on at least one matter we cannot differ: the question of human dignity, the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state.”
“I would like to apologize to all those who for many, many years felt rejected, humiliated,” Tusk added. “For many years, the state failed this test.”
At the same time, Tusk stressed that the planned regulation would not open the way to adoption by same-sex couples.
“To cut off all speculation, I want to emphasize that both the decision to issue the regulation and future legislative work are in no way a path toward the possibility of adoption,” he said. “The decision on the regulation will not open the possibility of adoption by same-sex couples.”
Tusk called on Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski and Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński to agree on the wording of the regulation as soon as possible. He also urged lawmakers to work quickly on additional legislation.
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said on Tuesday that the Warsaw Civil Registry Office would in the coming days transcribe the marriage certificate of a same-sex couple covered by court rulings.
He said the office would then process applications from Polish same-sex couples who married in European Union countries and apply for transcription.
Trzaskowski said the city was acting within the limits of current law, including statutes, regulations and rulings by Polish and European courts. He added that the mayor of Warsaw had no discretion in the matter.
The Supreme Administrative Court ruled in March in the case of two Polish men who married legally in Berlin in 2018. The court ordered the civil registry office to enter their marriage certificate into Polish records.
The case had earlier been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In November 2025, the EU court ruled that a member state must recognize a same-sex marriage legally concluded in another EU country, even if its own national law does not provide for such marriages.
Since March, the Supreme Administrative Court has ordered the transcription of marriage certificates for seven same-sex couples.
The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has said full implementation of the EU court’s guidance requires legislative changes.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP