The Prime Minister of Poland has backed down in the face of strong cross-party opposition to civil unions for gay couples, and admitted that the country will not adopt measures to allow it in the near future.

Back in March, Deputies in Warsaw rejected three bills which could have begun the process of allowing civil partnerships for gay couples in Poland.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that his party would still attempt to overcome internal differences and produce a bill to legalise civil unions, reports WSJ.

Despite slowly working towards a measure, disagreements have been many and party factions have not been able to come to a consensus on how to implement it.

This week Mr Tusk said civil unions legislation could not be rushed, and expressed concern that the legislation would have to be properly worded, in order to fit with Poland’s constitution.

The Polish constitution protects opposite-sex marriage, and some have interpreted this as meaning that same-sex unions could not be legalised.

“The worst thing that could happen would be a bill that the Constitutional Tribunal found unconstitutional,” he said. “Today I don’t see any chances for a majority to be found in the Sejm over the next 10-15 years that would want radical solutions.”

“I would like to live in a country where all differences enjoy respect expressed in the law, but I have to be responsible for the legal and social effects,” he continued.

Last week, Poland’s first gay MP Robert Biedron, who was elected to parliament in 2011, was attacked after he had attended the Warsaw Equality Parade on Saturday.

Earlier this year the former President of Poland, Lech Walesa, remarked that gay politicians should be made to sit “behind a wall” in parliament.

Mr Biedron is a member of the liberal Palikot Movement, a party which also includes Poland’s only transgender MP, Anna Grodzka.

Ms Grodzka told PinkNews.co.uk that she, along with Mr Biedron, was proof that Poland was changing.

“I was very surprised by how many people voted for me, and that means the general situation in Poland has changed slightly,” she said.