Justice Minister Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos told Parliament on Monday that cohabitation agreements would be made possible for same-sex couples in Greece, but did not say when the changes would be implemented. SYRIZA’s pledge to grant civil partnerships to homosexual couples is in response to a 2013 decision by the Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights that awarded plaintiffs damages after successfully challenging the Greek state over the civil partnership law that has been available to straight couples since 2008.

SYRIZA party’s support of same-sex marriage doesn’t extend to gay adoptions. “It is a difficult subject that requires dialogue,” said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras when asked about the subject recently. “There are contradictions in the scientific community about this and we will not include it in our policy program.”

Despite the fact that the government’s granting of marriage to homosexual couples falls short of adoption, the news came as unexpected considering the fact that the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party’s coalition is with the Independent Greeks (ANEL) that actively oppose gay rights.