Parliament in Cyprus approved Thursday the Lisbon Treaty
designed to streamline the European Union.
Deputies voted 31-18 in favour of the treaty, with members of the communist
AKEL party opposing the move.
During a debate lasting several hours a majority of legislators said Cyprus saw
its future in a strong and effective EU.
Cyprus joined the 27-member bloc in 2004 and introduced the European euro
currency on January 1 this year.
Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last month. Earlier
this week, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he would not ratify the treaty,
although Poland's parliament approved it in April.
So far only 11 countries have formally completed ratification. The process has also been suspended in Germany and the Czech Republic, who are awaiting the go-ahead from their countries' constitutional courts, dpa reported.