Nieuwste EU-lid doet homohuwelijk in de ban (en)

Over 65 percent of Croatians on Sunday (1 December) voted in favour of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a "union between a man and a woman."

The result came after a high-profile campaign by the Roman Catholic church to prevent the legalisation of gay marriage.

The legally binding referendum asked the question: "Do you agree that marriage is the union between a man and a woman?"

It was the first citizen-initiated referendum since Croatia's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

The referendum was initiated by a Catholic group, who gathered enough signatures to make the Croatian Parliament call the public poll.

Croatian cardinal Josip Bozanic wrote a pro-referendum letter that was read out in churches the day of the vote.

"Marriage is the only union enabling procreation. This is the key difference between a marriage and other unions," he said.

Some 90 percent of the 4.4 million people in the EU's newest member state are Catholics.

The centre-left government did not support the initiative.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic also called the vote "sad and pointless."

"The intimate space of a family is not something we should get involved in," he told reporters on Sunday.

His government will next week propose a bill on a form of partnership that will grant more rights to same-sex unions.