Foreign Ministry announcement about results of Irish referendum on Treaty of Lisbon

On 12 June in the Republic of Ireland, a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon proposing amendments to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community took place. The results indicate that Irish voters have rejected the Treaty of Lisbon.

Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins is of the opinion that the democratic choice of the citizens of the Republic of Ireland should be respected.

Currently, more than a half of the EU member state parliaments (18 states – Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, Denmark, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Luxembourg, Estonia, Finland, and Greece) have ratified the treaty.

In order to facilitate the accomplishment of the objectives enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon: to ensure efficient decision-making in the EU, to promote civil initiatives, and to increase the involvement of national parliaments, hasty decisions should not be made, further solutions should be searched for, and the ratification process should be continued in the remaining member states.

(end of text)