POLAND:THE LOWER house of the Polish parliament backed the European Union's reform treaty yesterday, allaying concerns that Poland could trip up its ratification across the bloc.
Deputies voted 384 to 68 to authorise Polish president Lech Kaczynski to ratify the charter, well clear of the required two-thirds majority. The vote must now be confirmed by the upper house, the senate, which is scheduled to vote today.
The passing of the treaty in Poland had looked certain only a few weeks ago. Then the opposition party of former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski made a last-minute U-turn, under pressure from its strongly Eurosceptic wing, and threatened to vote against.
In the end, the Kaczynskis backed down in the face of opinion polls suggesting a majority of Poles disapproved of this latest political gamble and would back the treaty in a referendum.
- (Reuters)