PARIS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- French
President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday he could not "imagine" that his Polish
counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, who had signed the initial text of the Lisbon
Treaty would refuse to ratify it.
European Commission President
Jose-Manuel Barroso (L) stands with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy
during a ceremony at The Arc de Triomphe July 1, 2008 as France is taking
over the presidency of the European Union. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
"I cannot imagine that the president (Kaczynski) who
signed the text in Brussels first, and then in Lisbon," would refuse to sign it,
Sarkozy told reporters as France began its six-month presidency of the EU on
Tuesday.
Kaczynski had said earlier in the day that he will
not sign the Lisbon Treaty into law.
The Polish parliament ratified the treaty in April,
but must be signed by the president to become effective.
"For the moment, the question of the treaty is
pointless," Kaczynski said in an interview with the Polish daily Dziennin.
The Lisbon Treaty aims to streamline the EU's
institutions following its expansion.
Kaczynski's refusal is a fresh challenge to Sarkozy
who said on the eve of the French takeover of the EU presidency that his top
priority would be to salvage the charter and urged EU members to continue the
ratification process.
The treaty must be ratified by all 27 member states
before it can come into effect. Irish voters rejected it in a referendum on June
13, plunging the EU into a crisis.
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski
listens during a news conference in Trakai, about 35 km (22 miles) from
Vilnius, June 16, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters, File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
WARSAW, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Polish president Lech
Kaczynski said on Tuesday that if Ireland ratifies the Lisbon Treaty he will
sign this document approved by the Polish parliament.
"I took part in negotiating the treaty and I support
it," Polish news agency PAP quoted Kaczynski as saying. Full story
BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas
Sarkozy has played down the Irish rejection of EU's Lisbon Treaty that
overshadowed the French EU presidency, which began on July 1, and instead
decided to attend to issues that ordinary citizens more care about. Full story
WARSAW, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski
said on Tuesday he would not sign the Lisbon Treaty, describing such a move as
"pointless" due to the Irish rejection of the EU reform treaty.
"For the moment, the question of the treaty is pointless,"
the president said during an interview with the daily Dziennin in its online
version. Full story
WARSAW, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Poland's Prime Minister Donald
Tusk does not share French president's opinion that further EU enlargement would
be impossible without the Lisbon Treaty.
"Remarks that the Irish referendum made Croatia's,
Serbia's or Ukraine's European prospects no longer valid are unacceptable,"
Polish news agency PAP quoted Tusk as saying. Full story
