Date: Mon, 8 Apr 1996 10:21:53 +0200 (MET DST) From: skolander@bahnhof.se (Bjoern Skolander) Subject: French No to Same-Sex Partnerships at Swedish Embassy
French No to Same-Sex Partnerships at Swedish Embassy Swedish same-sex couples who want to register their partnerships at the Swedish Embassy in Paris can forget all about it. The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs has prohibited registration ceremonies there - in spite of the fact that the embassy area is regarded as Swedish territory. In a letter to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm the French authorities are referring to their national legislation. France does not as Sweden recognize marrige-like same-sex partnerships. - France bases its decision on the 5th article of the Vienna Convention/Treaty, which allows them to deny an embassy certain consular functions, says Ulrika Laang at the press office at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. The Embassy in Paris is a popular place for Swedish couples to marry, especially in springtime. - We marry three couples every second week, and have a large number of couples on our waiting list, says press officer Nina Ersman at the Paris Embassy. Even same-sex couples are contacting us. But as the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs has dealt with the issue for more than one year, no partnership has yet could be registered at the embassy. The Swedish Partnership Law came in force 1 January 1995. More than 400 couples have registered, about 75% of these are male couples. SOURCE: Dagens Nyheter 3 April 1996 Translated by Bjoern Skolander <skolander@bahnhof.se>