CONSERVATIVE Christians in Slovakia have welcomed a parliamentary vote to enshrine “traditional values” and to make it the first country in Europe to give constitutional recognition to just two genders.

The chairman of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, said: “We are grateful to all members of the Slovak Republic’s National Council who supported these constitutional amendments. With this important step, Slovakia has sent a signal that it wishes for a strengthened society based on values of truth, freedom, justice, and the dignity of human life.”

The new constitutional measures also ban surrogacy, restrict adoption rights to heterosexual married couples, and enshrine equal pay for men and women.

Slovakia’s main pro-life movement said that it had “warned long and persistently” about “threats from gender ideology” in Europe. It said that the vote reflected a “civic struggle for truth and natural order”.

“These amendments give family and marriage a firmer foundation in our supreme state law, also protecting children from experimentation,” the Slovak Convention for the Family said in a statement.

“Slovakia is embarking on the path of protecting traditional values and ensuring the family community has a strong place in our society. . . That it has decided to follow the path of truth and goodness is a reason for joy and gratitude to God.”

The amendments — backed by Prime Minister Robert Fico’s coalition government, which includes Social Democrats and right-wing nationalists — were approved by 90 votes to seven in the 150-seat National Council. They will also strengthen parental rights over sex education and ethics classes in schools.

Mr Fico said that the changes would enshrine Slovakia’s “sovereignty in cultural and ethical matters”, and make the country “a great dam against progressivism”.

The amendments have been criticised by Amnesty International and other groups, which predict that they will harden conditions for LGBT+ citizens and bring Slovakia’s legal system closer to those of neighbouring Hungary and Russia.

Legal experts have warned that clauses enshrining the Slovak constitution’s primacy over European Union law could provoke jurisdictional disputes and possible EU sanctions. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has given a warning that the amendments contain “vague and undefined terms” that could “lead to arbitrary interpretations”.

The main Lutheran Church in Slovakia held its general assembly on the day of the vote. It is expected to discuss the implications at a theological conference later this month.