Russia to Sign Bilateral Adoption Agreement with France This Week UPDATED

On November 18, 2011, Russia will formally sign a bilateral adoption agreement with France. They finalized the agreement at the end of October 2011.

Furthermore, agreements with the U.K., Holland, Spain and Germany are underway according to ombudsman for children’s rights, Pavel Astakhov.

“He added that the international child adoptions should be carried only on the basis of bilateral agreements. “If we do not sign bilateral agreements, we should stop child adoption processes with these countries.”

Astakhov said that he still wanted Russian children to stay in Russia. “It is a shame that we export oil, gas and children,” Astakhov went on.

The first bilateral agreement on child adaption between Russia and Italy was signed in 2008.”

Russia to sign child adoption deals with European countries
[Ria Novosti 11/14/11]

Update: “Russia and France have signed bilateral agreements on child adoption and the protection of children’s rights in family disputes. Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Francois Fillion signed the documents during the 16th session of the Russian-French commission on bilateral cooperation. The two countries had been in talks on signing these agreements since 2009.

Russia, France sign agreement on child adoption
[The Voice of Russia 11/18/11 by Kovacic Yelena]

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Update 2: “Days after France adopted a bill legalising same-sex marriage, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that his country was mulling the idea of changing its adoption agreements with the French government and other states that allow gay marriage.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned that Russia could change agreements for the adoption of Russian children made with France and other Western states that are legalising gay marriage.

“I consider it fully correct to make changes to the appropriate documents. It is a current issue and we need to think about it,” Putin said at a meeting with lawmakers.

“We need to react to what is going on around us. We respect our partners but ask (that they) respect the cultural traditions and ethical, legal and moral norms of Russia,” Putin said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

The Russian parliament, in a law signed by Putin, had already caused a storm last year by banning the adoption of Russian children by American families.

That law was adopted as part of retaliation for human rights legislation adopted by US lawmakers.

The Interfax news agency said Putin’s comments on Friday were in response to a question posed by a lawmaker from the western Russian region of Kaliningrad who directly referred to the adoption this month of a bill by the French parliament legalising same-sex marriage.

The lawmaker, named as Marina Orgiyeva, suggested making changes in adoption agreements with France to ensure that Russian children did not fall into the hands of same-sex parents.

“She is right,” Putin replied. Putin did not specify what changes he wanted to see in the agreements.

French President Francois Hollande has promised to sign the gay marriage bill into law as soon as France’s Constitutional Council rules on a challenge filed by right-wing lawmakers.

Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993 and officially removed it from the list of psychiatric disorders in 1999.

But homophobia remains widespread and socially acceptable, and almost no public figures have come out as gay. Putin prides himself on a virile, heterosexual image.

Several Russian regions have outraged rights campaigners by approving local laws banning gay propaganda among minors, in legislation which is now in the initial stages of discussion at the federal parliament.

The deputy head of the Russian lower house of parliament’s children and family committee, Olga Batalina, said Russian lawmakers were “extremely worried” by the events in France.

Lawmakers in Russia “think it is categorically unacceptable that children should be adopted in same-sex families,” said the leading member of the ruling United Russia party.

She said that in view of the “tough position” of Russian society about same-sex marriage it was necessary that any adoption agreement between Paris and Moscow rules out the possibility a child could be taken by a gay couple.

She also said that potential parents who are single and want to adopt must also undergo additional screening to ensure the child will not in fact be brought up by a gay couple.

Batalina complained that Russia had already witnessed cases where Russian children given for adoption to a single parent “ended up in a same-sex family”.

“We think that the French side will see the Russian position with understanding,” Batalina predicted.

The head of the committee Elena Mizulina, quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency, said Russia was ready to annul the adoption agreement with France if Paris did not agree to Moscow’s demands.

“Given the choice between an outright ban and restrictions, I think they (the French) could enter into negotiations on additional guarantees,” she said.”

Putin says gay marriage in France may affect adoptions

[France 24 4/26/13]

Update 3: ” Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has said Moscow may change its adoption agreement with France in response to the country’s new gay marriage law.

Earlier Saturday French President Francois Hollande signed into law a controversial bill allowing same-sex marriage. The bill has sparked mass protests throughout the nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said late last month Russia could change its adoption agreements with the countries which allowed gay marriage that goes against “traditional Russian values”.

The Russian law defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

“France has other variants now. It turns out, that the countries (Russia and France) have a different legal framework. It is obvious, that a new mechanism should be devised to resolve this issue,” Astakhov told the Echo Moskvy radio station.

Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has been requested to come up with amendments to the law by July 1, Astakhov said.

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Russia in 1993, and anti-gay sentiment remains strong in society, including among Russia’s political establishment.”

Russia reviews adoption law over French gay marriage

[Business-Standard.com 5/19/13 by RIA Novosti]

Update 4: “Russian children’s rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov said he did not exclude the possibility of the adoption agreement with France being terminated due to the fact that France has passed the same-sex marriage law.

“We have to pass something inevitably because the adoption of children by same-sex families does not match our interior legislation. We inevitably have to either rectify the legislation for the French one or refuse fulfilling obligations to France,” Astakhov’s press office quoted the official as saying.

The Russian State Duma ratified in summer 2012 the Russian-French agreement on adoption cooperation according to which a child could be adopted internationally only if it is impossible to find a family for him in his homeland.

On May 18, 2013, French President Francois Hollande signed the decree allowing same-sex couples to get married and adopt children. Thus, France has become the ninth European country to permit same-sex marriages.

Russia could terminate adoption agreement with France – Astakhov

[Russia Beyond the Headlines 5/28/13]

“Russia may refuse to honor its commitments under an adoption agreement with France due to that country’s legal recognition of gay marriage.

Russia’s children’s ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, in comments carried by RIA Novosti, said “we have to do something” because adoption by gay couples “contradicts our internal law. … Here, according to family law, a marriage is between a man and a woman. Correspondingly, we can give away children only to a married man and woman. We will inevitably either have to submit our law to French law, or default on our treaty obligations”

Izvestia reported Tuesday that the State Duma was working on draft legislation to amend the current law and forbid the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples abroad.

Legislation allowing same-sex marriage was signed by French President Francois Hollande on May 18. The first marriage ceremonies are due to be held on May 29.

The agreement with France regulating the adoption procedure between the two countries was ratified by the Duma last summer.”

Adoption Ban on French Same-Sex Couples

[The Moscow Times 5/29/13]

Update 5: “The lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, may approve an amendment banning adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples before summer recess begins on July 6, a committee chief said on Tuesday.

Yelena Mizulina, a member of the A Just Russia party who heads the State Duma’s Committee on Family, Women and Children, said the committee discussed the amendment on Tuesday.

The amendment to the Russian Family Code, if passed, will ban the adoption of Russian children by foreign citizens, persons without citizenship and Russian nationals permanently living abroad, who are in a same-sex marriage.

“In addition, the ban will also be applicable to single foreigners from countries where same-sex marriages are permitted by the law, as well as stateless persons and Russians who permanently reside in these countries,” Mizulina told RIA Novosti.

She said the amendment will be considered as part of a second reading into the government-proposed bill on issues of orphans. The second reading is due within the next two weeks and the third reading is expected in early July.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he will sign a law banning adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples if parliament passes such legislation.”

Duma May Approve Same-Sex Adoption Ban by July 6l

[RIA Novosti 6/5/13]