Polish President Refuses to Ratify EU Treaty

Europe's unity over the reform treaty continued to unravel this week after Poland's president seemed set to abandon his country's approval of the EU's reform treaty.

"At the moment the question of the treaty is pointless," Kazynski told the Polish newspaper Dziennik.

Poland's parliament approved the treaty in April, but Kazynski's signature is needed to finalize the ratification.

EU will survive

The treaty faced its first stumbling bloc when it was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum last month. The treaty needs to be reatified by all 27 member states before becoming law.

Kaczynski said he was unworried about the future of the EU. Even after a similar EU Constitutional Treaty was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, the union continued to function, Kazynski told Dziennik.

"The EU worked, is working and will continue to work," Kaczynski said in the interview published Tuesday, July 1.

More trouble ahead?

The Lisbon Treaty is meant to streamline the bloc's institutions and give it a stronger voice in international affairs.

Treaty advocates worry that Kaczynski's refusal to sign the treaty could encourage the euroskeptical Czech government to do the same later this year. It could also put a freeze on the EU's plans to accept new members, such as Croatia.

Although Kacznski indicated he had no intention of signing the treaty, he left some wiggle room adding that it is "difficult to say how this whole thing will end."