President Miloš Zeman said he would veto a bill that would redefine marriage in the Czech Republic to allow same-sex couples avail of it.

The lower house of parliament received a bill amending the Civil Code to that effect with support from five deputy groups.

The motion was not supported by Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), though parties generally allow their MPs a free vote on such matters.

However, President Zeman opposes such changes. “Same-sex couples are entitled to all the benefits of a registered partnership, “but a family is a union of a man and a woman. Period,” he said.

Instead, the president would support a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman – an amendment some Christian Democrats are currently pushing for.