Poland puts EU referendum on hold

French rejection of the constitution sent the EU into turmoil

Poland is to delay indefinitely a referendum on the European constitution scheduled for October but still intends to hold one, its president has said.

Aleksander Kwasniewski said the original date was "not realistic".

This will make Poland the sixth country to put its poll on hold, after French and Dutch "No" votes three weeks ago.

Nine of the 25 EU states have already ratified the treaty, and Luxembourg said on Monday that it would go ahead with a vote on 10 July.

EU leaders at a summit in Brussels last week agreed to extend the November 2006 deadline to ratify the treaty until at least mid-2007.

Mr Kwasniewski announced his country's referendum delay after meeting Prime Minister Marek Belka and parliament speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

"There should be a referendum but the timing is not clear, it is rather distant and certainly not in October," he said.

Portugal, Denmark and the Czech Republic have also postponed their referendums.

The UK has called off plans to call a referendum for next year, while Ireland has failed to set a date.