Cyprus approves European Constitution News
Cyprus approves European Constitution

[JURIST] Cyprus [government website] on Thursday ratified the European Constitution [JURIST news archive] after a special two-day session of the country's parliament [official website]. Lawmakers approved the charter 30-19 in an attempt to counteract the devastating rejections handed down by France [JURIST report] and the Netherlands [JURIST report]. Cyprus was one of 10 new members that joined the EU in May 2004 [EU enlargement website] despite the failure of a UN peace plan to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island after nearly thirty years of division. The sole abstention came from Cyprus Greens [official website] MP George Perdikis, whose party had called for a referendum and suspended vote on the charter. The next significant test for the comatose constitution is a referendum in Luxembourg [JURIST report] scheduled for July 10. AFP has more.