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Polish Parliament Approves EU Treaty


Poland's parliament has overwhelmingly passed a bill approving ratification of the new European Union treaty after weeks of political infighting.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted 384 to 56 Tuesday to adopt the charter, which replaces the much-maligned EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Poland's upper house is expected to pass the bill Wednesday and President Lech Kaczynski is expected to sign it.

The approval follows weeks of wrangling between Poland's pro-European government and the nationalist opposition, which argued the EU Treaty will limit Polish sovereignty.

To resolve the dispute, lawmakers adopted a separate resolution saying the Polish constitution has supremacy over the EU charter.

The EU Treaty requires the approval of all 27 member countries. France, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and Romania have already ratified the treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making and unify the bloc's foreign policy objectives.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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