By DPA,
Warsaw : Polish President Lech Kaczynski ratified the Lisbon Treaty Saturday and left his Czech counterpart as the only European leader remaining to sign the document before it can take effect.
Kaczynski signed the treaty, intended to streamline European Union decision-making, a week after it received a Yes vote in a second Irish referendum.
Kaczynski called the EU “a great experiment in the history of mankind,” that would “function even more effectively” when the treaty takes effect.
The Polish leader called the signing ceremony “a day when we agree on a new, big experiment,” but said the reform treaty was signed in the framework of the Republic of Poland, “which was and is sovereign”.
The signing ceremony, held at the presidential palace in Warsaw, included Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Kaczynski said he held off signing the treaty until it got a nod from Irish voters, saying Ireland’s vote needed to be respected and the EU needed to make important decisions unanimously.
His advisers sent mixed signals immediately after the Irish vote, however, saying there was no need for haste.
The treaty needs unanimous approval from the 27-member bloc before it can be implemented.
Analysts said Kaczynski delayed likely in a bid to negotiate a better position for Poland in the EU, reports said.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus is the sole European leader who is yet to ratify the treaty, which must first get a nod from the country’s Constitutional Court.
Klaus demanded Friday that before he ratifies the pact the Czech Republic gets an opt-out from a part of the Lisbon Treaty that would allow Germans expelled after World War II to sue for their confiscated property.
The Polish president was using ratification as a bargaining chip in a power struggle with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, his long-time political rival, some commentators said.
The spat between the two leaders centers on their role in the EU and their participation in summits.