Russia’s Justice Ministry calls cohabitation without marriage a ‘national security threat’
Deputy Justice Minister Vadim Balanin said that cohabitation without formal marriage registration poses a direct threat to national security and demographic health, citing a shift in family relations.
Russia’s Deputy Justice Minister Vadim Balanin declared that living together without marriage threatens the country’s national security. He made the remarks at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF) during a session titled “A Strong Family as a Value Guideline for Family Law.”
Balanin noted that family relations in Russia have changed in recent years. “Right now, we are encountering such a phenomenon as cohabitation without formal marriage registration. At the same time, the number of divorces among already registered marriages remains significant. And these trends, in our view, can be regarded as a direct threat to national security and the demographic health of our country,” he said.
He also invoked the West, which he described as living through an “era of revision of traditional values” — challenges he said are capable of “undermining the foundations of Russia’s statehood” and require the country to defend the family institution. The Justice Ministry supports strengthening family relations and measures “to counter the destruction of traditional ideologies,” and is tracking proposed amendments to the Family Code, Balanin added.
Russia has launched a broad campaign promoting “traditional values,” including restricting access to abortion, discouraging divorce, and refusing to pass a domestic violence law. Lawmakers have argued that such a law could scare men away from marriage.
