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Poland's President Lech Kaczynski will only sign the
European Union's Lisbon Treaty if Ireland
approves it in a new referendum, he said in an exclusive interview.
"If Ireland makes another decision - but not under pressure
and without changing its constitution - in the same way as
the first, then Poland
will not place a block on the treaty" - Kaczynski said,
adding - "and I myself will not place a block, because
the Polish parliament has already approved the treaty."
The conservative Kaczynski, who is considered a eurosceptic,
had said that ratifying the treaty now would be "pointless"
after voters in Ireland - the only EU member state to hold
a referendum on the treaty - rejected it last month.
Warsaw's lawmakers voted in April to ratify the charter,
aimed at streamlining EU decision-making in a bloc which has
expanded from 15 to 27 members since 2004 - mainly with the
influx of former east and central European communist
countries, such as Poland itself.
However, under the Polish constitution, the presidential
seal of approval is still needed.
Kaczynski's announcement was a blow for French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has set himself the
task of finding a way to overcome the Irish rejection during
France's six-month EU presidency, which began on 1st July.
While EU leaders agreed on the Lisbon Treaty in December
2007, it must be ratified by all 27 member states to come
into force.
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