President Sarkozy demands second Irish referendum on EU treaty

Ireland must hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty, Nicolas Sarkozy told colleagues yesterday in the clearest sign of a European Union plan to try to save the document ratified by 21 other countries. 

A second vote would have to take place in an attempt to reverse Ireland's rejection of the treaty last month by a margin of 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent, the French President told MPs from his party at a private meeting. 

Mr Sarkozy, who is acting as chairman of the EU while France holds its presidency for six months, has denied in public that there is a secret plan to force a second vote and has said that the solution must be proposed by the Irish Government at the next EU summit in October. “The Irish will have to vote again,” he was reported to have told a meeting in his office — words that are likely to inflame public opinion in Ireland, which Mr Sarkozy will visit on Monday. 

His trip is billed as a listening exercise, but Irish voters may now wonder whether Mr Sarkozy and other EU leaders have already made up their minds. Details emerged in Paris of a plan to stage a rerun of the vote backed by guarantees that Ireland will keep its EU commissioner as well as its military neutrality, its veto over tax policy and its right to set its abortion laws.

Pressure on Ireland has been increased by the continuing pace of ratification by other parliaments. Britain passed the document the week after the Irish “no” vote, followed by Cyprus, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

The treaty, which was intended to streamline decision-making in an enlarged EU, cannot be implemented until it is ratified by all member states. It has yet to be passed by the parliaments of the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain and Sweden, and is awaiting formal presidential signature in Germany and Poland. 

Senior EU politicians have called for the Irish to vote again in the spring because they want to conduct next June's European Parliament elections under the more streamlined rules. 

An official in Paris confirmed that Mr Sarkozy made the remark, while the French President's office declined to comment. The reported remarks were attacked by Declan Ganley, of the Libertas group, one of the most prominent anti-treaty campaigners. “This typifies the anti-democratic nature of what's going on in Brussels,” he told RTE radio. 

Mr Sarkozy's office said that he would not present a plan to the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. “The President is coming to listen to the Irish, to listen to what Brian Cowen tells him. He is not coming to make proposals,” one adviser to Mr Sarkozy said. continues here

Russia Calls the EU's Planned Mission to Kosovo Illegal

Russia said on Wednesday, Feb. 20, that sending an EU mission to Kovoso would be a breach of international law, and called the plan symbolic of the West's double standard in recognizing Kosovo's independence from Serbia.


The European Union has already agreed to send a mission to Kosovo, consisting of some 2,000 police officers, justice and customs officials to aid and train authorities there and help stabilize the region following Kosovo's declaration of independence.


Russia on Wednesday said Kosovo's proclamation of independence was a "gross violation" of international law and said the EU mission had no legal basis since the decision was made without approval from the U.N. Security Council.


"The European Union, unilaterally, and without any sanction from the UN Security Council, is sending a mission to Kosovo to ensure the supremacy of the law," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at a news briefing with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.


"To put it mildly, it is a bitter irony that this mission to ensure the supremacy of the law in Kosovo is being sent in breach of the highest international law," he continued......Article conts (-)

France: Lawmakers Say Yes to New European Treaty
Emile Picy

PARIS (Reuters) - The French parliament ratified a European Union reform treaty to overhaul the bloc's institutions on Friday, nearly three years after France rejected a planned EU constitution in a referendum.

The treaty, which must win approval by all 27 EU countries to take effect, will give the bloc a long-term president, a more powerful foreign policy chief, more democratic decision-making and more say for European and national parliaments.

France is the fifth EU country after Hungary, Malta, Romania and Slovenia to ratify the so-called Treaty of Lisbon, a replacement for the constitution. Only Ireland will hold a referendum on the treaty, as required by its own constitution......Article conts (-)