Poland Must Recognize Same-Sex Marriage, European Top Court Says – Same for all EU Countries
EU citizens are free to move to other member states and have “a normal family life.”
Featured Image: Warsaw during the Equality Parade 6/14/25. Photo by Neil Milton/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Nov. 25, that EU member states must recognize a same-sex marriage between two EU citizens that has been “lawfully concluded in another member state.”
While the ruling was directed at Poland, the EU’s top court made clear that the law applies across the entire EU bloc. The circumstances leading to the broader declaration stem from a case in which two Polish male citizens were married in Berlin (one also has German nationality). They requested that their marriage certificate be transcribed in the Polish civil register, and recognized in Poland. The request was initially refused on the grounds that domestic Polish law does not allow marriages between persons of the same sex.
The situation was presented to a Polish national court, which referred the question to the CJEU; ultimately, the CJEU found that denial of the request would be “contrary to EU law because it infringes that freedom and the right to respect for private and family life.”
Related: Slovenia Becomes First Eastern European Country To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
EU citizens are free to move to other member states and to have “a normal family life” there and when they return to their country of origin, the CJEU said. “When they create a family life in a host member state, in particular by virtue of marriage, they must have the certainty to be able to pursue that family life upon returning to their member state of origin.”
Related: Greece Legalizes Same Sex Marriage
The European Union is comprised of 27 countries. Six member countries do not have legal options for same-sex couples to wed: Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Lithuania. Slovakia also passed a law in September, recognizing only two sexes and restricting adoption.
Even so, the new ruling is firm: foreign marriages must be recognized, regardless of what’s on domestic law books.
Greece became the first majority-Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2024.
