Poland will delay a referendum on the European Union constitution but should still hold a popular vote on the troubled charter, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said today.
“A referendum in October as we have planned is not realistic. There should be a referendum but the timing is not clear, it is rather distant and certainly not in October,“ Mr Kwasniewski told a news conference.
After the French and Dutch “No” votes to the constitution, EU leaders put the charter on hold, extending the deadline for ratification to avoid more humiliating defeats. Several EU states postponed the votes planned later this year.
Prime Minister Marek Belka has said that after the failure of last week's EU summit on the bloc's long-term budget it would be tough to convince voters to back the treaty and suggested ratification by parliament instead.
