Poland risks isolation over reform, warns Tusk

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, has warned that the country is in danger of becoming isolated on the European stage after the president said he had no plans to sign the Lisbon treaty on EU reform. Lech Kaczynski, the president, said he would not immediately sign the Lisbon treaty even though it has been ratified by parliament. In an interview published in Dziennik, the Polish daily newspaper, on Tuesday, he said it would be “pointless” to sign the treaty, which was rejected last month by a referendum in Ireland. Poland’s parliament approved the treaty in April after a political battle with the opposition Law and Justice party, which is headed by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president’s twin brother. Although the Kaczynskis helped negotiate the treaty last year, they have never been very enthusiastic about it, fearing it... [read full story]