Slovakia is one of the 16-nation bloc that signed the protocol to the EU
Reform Treaty, voicing its approval of the symbols of the European Union - the flag, anthem, Euro and the date of May 9, which is the Day of Europe. The paper substitutes the reference to EU symbols, deleted from the text of the EU Reform Treaty that will be signed on by European leaders on December 13 in Lisbon. Along with Slovakia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia also signed the declaration.
French EU MPs called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg to use the signing of the treaty in Lisbon and join the declaration. A statement of French liberal MEPs reads that "to show solidarity with EU sceptics means to expose the EU to French weakness." The reference to the EU symbols was removed as required by the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic, which considered it a sign of the transformation of the EU into a federal state. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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