Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos on Monday said that the draft bill opening up the bill on same-sex civil partnerships clearly forbids the adoption of children. Speaking to the parliamentary committee, he said that his ministry would add an amendment to clarify the issue.

He said that the government would have explicitly added an adoption clause if it had intended for this to take place. “It is an issue of interest to society and the government would not pass a vague or hidden aw in a provision of the bill,” he told lawmakers following the reaction of several opposition MPs. “It is clear that this bill does not provide for adoption and if you think there is need for clarification I will add it.”

The bill was approved by MPs of the coalition government (leftist SYRIZA and right-wing ANEL), as well as the Union of Centrists during its first reading. The conservative New Democracy (ND) party, socialist PASOK and centrist Potami (River) said that they approve on provisions in principle but expressed concerns on other articles and asked for modifications, whereas the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn expressed complete opposition to the bill.