Poland Not Ratifying Lisbon Treaty
2009-10-9 3:25
Contradicting a presidential aide who said Poland would ratify a European Union reform treaty on Sunday, October 11th, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, brother of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, says the treaty would not be ratified.
He has suggested that the president's schedule would make it difficult for him to sign the treaty this coming weekend.
[Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Polish President’s Brother]:
"Regarding Sunday night, as I heard, then according to my knowledge on Sunday evening, Mr. President will be in the Vatican. I don't think that he will be signing the Lisbon Treaty in the Vatican or in Rome.”
Many Poles are irritated by the delay.
[Joanna Bielak, Warsaw Resident]:
"I think that yes, it's a little strange that before he wanted to sign it and now he is backing out."
[Krzysztof Kala, Student]:
"Other European countries signed it and I think that such a diplomatic move would really help us.”
[Zuzanna Stanksa, Student]:
"Our country cannot be treated irresponsibly, like the one who declares something and then doesn't keep this obligation."
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president’s twin brother and head of Poland’s main opposition party, the right-wing, eurosceptical Law and Justice (PiS), is known to exercise influence over him.
The Lisbon Treaty, also known as the Reform Treaty, is designed to give the 27-nation bloc a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief.
It must be ratified by all 27 members.
Senior member of the ruling Civic Platform party Stanislaw Niesiolowski claims that Kaczynski is stalling the signing.
He says the treaty would spell the end of the Law and Justice (PiS) party.
[Stanislaw Niesiolowski, Senior Member, Civic Platform Party]:
“There will be a spectacle of hypocrisy when President Kaczynski will be pretending to care. He absolutely didn't want it, he wanted Ireland to vote against, he was an opponent of this treaty. And now he will make false gestures to show that it's otherwise."
The Kaczynski twins are conservative nationalists unhappy about the deeper EU integration they believe the Lisbon Treaty entails.
They reluctantly accepted it after winning concessions on voting rights during negotiations in 2007.
