Polish president signs Lisbon Treaty bill

WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski has signed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, 557 days after it was approved by Parliament.

The ceremony Saturday in Warsaw was attended by European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek and others, Polish Radio reported.

Poland is the 26th country to ratify the plan, with the Czech Republic the remaining holdout.

Kaczynski delayed signing the bill after the initial rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters last year threw its future into doubt, since all 27 nations in the European Union must agree to the treaty to put it into effect. But Ireland reversed itself this month in a second referendum on the measure, which would create a permanent President of the European Council and an EU foreign ministry.

"For many months I have said that ratification will take place when the Irish people, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland, change the view they expressed (in the first referendum)," Kaczynsky said. "Now that the decision of the Irish people has changed means that the treaty has been revived."

Polish Radio said that in his speech, Kaczynski asserted that the process of EU enlargement will not end with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.