More than 60,000 people have signed an initiative for the President of Latvia on the"ManaBalss.lv" platform in just over three days, calling on him not to promulgate a law on Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

Rinkēvičs had not publicly formulated his position on the law so far, but promised that he would"carefully evaluate" the law adopted by the Saeima on withdrawal from the convention,"taking into account state and legal, not ideological or political, considerations."

In Latvia, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, or the so-called Istanbul Convention, entered into force on 1 May last year. It is an international treaty that requires its member states to develop a coordinated policy to better protect women from all forms of violence, as well as women and men from domestic violence. Among other things, member states must provide victims with comprehensive assistance and protection, crisis centres, a 24-hour crisis hotline, specialised support centres for victims of sexual violence, and protect and support children who are witnesses of violence.