UPDATE 1-Polish PM says hopes will not use veto at summit

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BRATISLAVA, June 18 (Reuters) - Poland hopes it will not have to use its veto in talks on a new European Union treaty, but will defend demands for reweighting the EU voting system, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Monday.

Poland has threatened to block progress on the charter for reforming EU institutions at a June 21-22 summit unless voting rules are changed. Warsaw believes the rules contained in the treaty give too much power to big countries such as Germany.

"I hope we will not have to use the last resort, a veto. I hope we will be able to find a compromise," Kaczynski told a news conference after a meeting of central European leaders in the Slovak capital.

No other country except the Czech Republic -- albeit half-heartedly -- is backing the Poles on the issue.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is the current EU president, has firmly resisted any attempt to go back on the so-called double majority system, under which most decisions would require 55 percent of member states representing 65 percent of the EU population to pass.

Poland, which has less than half Germany's population, has proposed an alternative based on the square root of each country's population.

"The position of all European Union citizens must be equal. It cannot be that a vote of one citizen from one country in the Union has double the weight (of) the vote of another citizen of another country," Kaczynski said.

"Unfortunately, this is the system that is in place right now. It is a point which we have to fight for, although it may seem that it may not be supported initially," he added.

Warsaw's relations with the European Union have deteriorated since Kaczynski and his twin Lech -- the country's president -- took power in late 2005.

The brothers show a deep suspicion of Germany, rooted in Poland's suffering under Nazi occupation during World War Two.

Keywords: SLOVAKIA VISEGRAD/POLAND