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Former Croatian PM Tweets on Parliament's Discussion on Marriage

Categories: Eastern & Central Europe, Croatia, Governance, LGBTQ+, Politics

Jadranka Kosor [1], former Croatian Prime Minister and current representative in the Croatian Parliament, decided to use her Twitter account on Tuesday evening to express her dissatisfaction with debate in Parliament over adding a definition of marriage to the country's constitution.

As in many other European countries, same-sex marriages have recently been a hot topic in Croatia's overwhelmingly Catholic society as well. Many users on Twitter and Facebook have related Jadranka Kosor's tweet from last evening to the matter of same-sex marriage, but it seems Ms. Kosor had somewhat different thoughts on her mind.

Around 6 PM on May 28, Jadranka Kosor tweeted [2] [hr]:

Kako bi bilo da u Ustav ugradimo zabranu političarima (osobito demokršćanima) da imaju ljubavnice? Onima koji su u braku, jasno.

How about we install a ban for politicians in the Constitution (in particular for demochristians) from having mistresses? For those who are married, of course

Jadranka Kosor. Photo by Roberta F., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 [3]

Jadranka Kosor. Photo by Roberta F., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Ms. Kosor later gave a statement [4] [hr] to the Croatian news site Dnevnik, confirming that the tweet was indeed hers and explaining that she was merely expressing her “thoughts at a moment when certain changes to the Constitution were being discussed, while the state has much bigger and more important problems.”

Her tweet stirred up quite a bit of support and some trouble on Twitter nevertheless.

Twitter user @Nena_Nic said [5] [hr]:

@_jadranka_kosor opa jadranka,pravo u centar

@_jadranka_kosor wow jadranka, straight on the bullseye

With over 50 retweets in some six hours, many on Twitter supported Kosor's statement, even those who obviously haven't shared her political views in the past, like @hajdarovicm [6] [hr]:

@_Jadranka_Kosor Ne vjerujem sam sebi da cu ovo napisati, ali bravo zastupnice Kosor!

@_Jadranka_Kosor I can't believe myself what I am about to write, but bravo representative Kosor!

User @Implantologia_ says [7] [hr]:

@_Jadranka_Kosor pa kad već predlažu blesave izmjene ustava idemo do kraja, stvarno svaka čast na izjavi…………:)

@_Jadranka_Kosor well since they're already suggesting silly amendments to the constitution let's go all the way, really every respect for the statement………….:)

Others weren't so supportive and questioned Ms. Kosor's motives and intentions. User @anikahahn echoes the sentiment of some other users [8] [hr]:

@_Jadranka_Kosor Vaša ogorcenost sto nemozete biti vise nikome ljubavnica nije dovoljan razlog da mijenjate zakon ili ? Zar se ne sijecate

@_Jadranka_Kosor Your bitterness because you can no longer be anyone's mistress isn't reason enough to change the law or ? Don't you remember

Twitter user @Jela911 poses the question [9] [hr]:

@_Jadranka_Kosor Gospođo Kosor, zašto Vama smeta to što će u Ustavu brak biti određen kao zajednica jednog muškarca i jedne žene?

@_Jadranka_Kosor Mrs. Kosor, why does it bother you that marriage will be defined in the Cosntitution as the union of a man and a woman?

In the end, there are also those who seem to have understood exactly what Ms. Kosor claims to have been thinking when she wrote this tweet, and they are wondering when other topics, like the current economic state of the country will be discussed in Parliament. @CountessBezuhov asks [10] [hr]:

@_Jadranka_Kosor Kako bi bilo da se gradjani i političari u Hrvatskoj počnu baviti ekonmskim pitanjima, umjesto što se bave brakovima?

@_Jadranka_Kosor How about citizens and politicians in Croatia start working on economic matters, instead of working on marriages?