POLAND: Hopes of keeping the EU constitution on track for its scheduled ratification received two further setbacks yesterday after leaders in Poland and the Czech Republic announced they were postponing national votes on the treaty.
Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek said it was "impossible" for Czech voters to decide now, following the French and Dutch rejection of the constitution and the British decision to suspend its referendum.
Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski said Poland would wait and see what came out of next week's EU summit before naming a date, adding that "no decision is also a decision".
A day earlier, Mr Kwasniewski said it was important for Poland to vote on the constitution and spoke of tying it to the presidential election vote in October.
Mr Kwasniewski yesterday told Polish radio: "We may decide [ at the summit] to give ourselves a few months and meet [ again] when we are better prepared."
He suggested that EU leaders might agree a way forward at the summit, making it possible for Poland to name a referendum date, or they might fail to agree on how to proceed, throwing Poland's referendum plans into confusion.
Meanwhile in Prague, Mr Paroubek said: "It is a very complicated thing for us, this solution of [ the] British government and . . . it will have a strong influence on the political situation in the Czech Republic." He told the BBC he was "disappointed" by the British decision.
"I think it [ a referendum] is impossible at this moment. At this moment it is necessary to start with discussions about future of the European constitution, about the future of this process in the Czech Republic. It is a more difficult situation for us after the French referendum and Dutch referendum because our opposition is very strong against the European constitution."
Opposition Civic Democrat (ODS) leaders have described the constitution as a "dead document".
Former prime minister Stanislav Gross said it was essential for the Czech Republic to honour its commitment to decide on ratification: "We believe that it is necessary to be in the main European stream."
Further north in Estonia, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said yesterday that the French and Dutch rejections should not "paralyse the functioning of the EU on its present foundations".
"Member states should continue the ratification process according to their plans and procedures so that each country can state its position," Mr Paet said.