Sweden to proceed with treaty vote despite Irish no
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's parliament will go ahead with its ratification vote on the European Union's reform treaty as planned despite Ireland's rejection of the pact in a referendum, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Friday.
The Swedish government has said parliament, where a solid majority favors the treaty, will vote on ratification this autumn.
"The referendum in Ireland resulted in a clear 'no' to the Lisbon treaty," Bildt wrote on his Internet blog. "This we must naturally respect, even if I deeply regret the result."
He said the wider implications of Ireland's rejection of the pact are not likely to be clear until a December meeting of EU heads of state.
"For our own part, we can only note that our own ratification process of course is not affected," Bildt said.
(Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Sarah Edmonds; Editing by Catherine Evans)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Interview:
Obama warns of China strains
"If we don't solve some of these problems, then I think both economically and politically it will put enormous strains on the relationship," the president tells Reuters. Full Article | Full Coverage
DC sniper to be executed
