Polish PM sees quick ratification of EU treaty

...Tusk said on Monday.

The treaty, backed by EU leaders in October and due to be signed in Lisbon on Dec. 13, replaces a planned European constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

"Poland will belong among the first countries that will ratify this treaty," Tusk said after meeting Czech, Hungarian, Slovak and Slovenian prime ministers in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava.

The centre-right prime minister, who came to power after an election in October, added Poland would ratify the treaty in the first half of 2008, when Slovenia holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.

Tusk is striving to bring Polish foreign policy back into the European mainstream after replacing the conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynski who frequently clashed with EU heavyweights like Germany.

Tusk has however said he would have to abandon plans to sign up to the European Union's charter of fundamental rights with other EU nations after the opposition threatened to block ratification of the new treaty.

The previous government negotiated an opt-out from the charter, attached to the treaty, arguing that it could limit Warsaw's ability to maintain a traditional Roman Catholic family policy.

Tusk's centre-right coalition lacks a two-thirds majority to ratify the EU treaty, which will streamline decision-making in the bloc, meaning it will need opposition support. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Marek Petrus; Editing by Keith Weir)

Keywords: POLAND TREATY/

[Reuters/Finance.cz]