Greece backs new EU constitution

Greece has a tradition of ratifying treaties through parliament

Parliament in Greece has overwhelmingly ratified the European Union's first constitution at a special session.

The document was backed by 268 votes in the 300-member strong parliament. Only 17 lawmakers voted against while another 15 decided to abstain.

The vote makes Greece the sixth country to back the constitution.

The text, signed by EU leaders in Rome last year, must be backed by all 25 member states - either by public referendum or parliamentary vote.

So far, only Spain has backed the constitution with a referendum.

Now Greek MPs have joined colleagues in Italy and three new EU members - Lithuania, Hungary and Slovenia - in backing the text of the first ever blueprint for running the EU.

Both Greece's governing conservatives and the main opposition Socialist party voted in favour of the constitution.

The vote comes ahead of a crucial 29 May referendum on the issue in France - one of the founding states of the EU.

A string of opinion polls there have continued to cause concern for the government in Paris by showing that a majority favour rejecting the constitution.

Correspondents say that that is a reaction to the record of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.