Brussels - Poland has all but sank plans by the Portuguese
presidency of the EU to hold a European Day against the death penalty
next month, officials in Brussels acknowledged Tuesday.
'Poland confirmed its previous position and made it impossible to
agree on holding this European day. We will find other ways of
demonstrating Europe's opposition to the death penalty,' said Alberto
Costa, Portugal's justice minister, after a meeting of interior and
justice ministers in Brussels.
Portugal was the first European country to abolish the death
penalty in 1876, and is keen for the EU to endorse its anti-capital
punishment stance with a European day, to be celebrated
on October 10.
Poland, like all other EU member states, has also abolished the
death penalty. But its staunchly Catholic conservative government
insists on transforming October 10 into a wider pro-life event.
'If we have to discuss the death penalty, we should also discuss
abortion and euthanasia,' said Andrzej Duda, Poland's secretary of
state.
EU Commissioner Franco Frattini said ministers meeting in Brussels
had held a 'highly political discussion, at the end of which no
agreement could be reached on establishing a European day.'
Spanish Justice Minister Mariano Sanchez Bermejo said Poland was
isolated on this issue and that its position was largely intended for
domestic consumption.
The government of the Kaczynski twins is currently seeking
re-election in a closely-fought general election scheduled for
October 21.
'Twenty-six countries in the EU want to celebrate a symbolic day
against the death penalty but only one, Poland, is against,' Sanchez
Bermejo said.
'It is very difficult to understand why Poland is putting a veto
on this. We hope it is only a provisional (veto),' the minister
added.
In disagreeing with Poland's isolated stance, British Secretary of
State for Justice Jack Straw said such issues tended to be treated as
matters of conscience rather than party politics in Britain.
Portuguese officials said they had not given up hope of
celebrating the European day, but conceded that Poland was unlikely
to change its stance over the coming weeks.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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