THE TELEGRAPH: Lech Kaczynski, Poland’s president, has signed the Lisbon treaty, leaving the Czech Republic the only country yet to ratify the controversial European Union reform plan.
Flanked by José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European commission, and the Polish president of the European parliament, Jerzy Buzek, Mr Kaczynski put his signature to the treaty in Warsaw.
“The fact that the Irish people changed their minds meant the revival of the treaty, and there are no longer any obstacles to its ratification,” said Mr Kaczynski in a short speech, adding that it was a “historic” day for both Poland and the European Union.
The ceremony leaves the Czech Republic as the last outpost of opposition to the treaty among the governments of the 27 member states, with Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president and an ardent opponent of further European integration making an eleventh-hour bid to gain opt-out clauses from the European Charter of Human Rights, which forms part of the Lisbon text. >>> Matthew Day in Warsaw | Saturday, October 10, 2009
