European Parliament gets its first Polish president

October 10th, 2009 Polish president ratifies EU reform treatyWARSAW, Poland — Poland's president approved the European Union reform treaty on Saturday, ratcheting up the pressure on the Czech Republic as the only nation yet to sign off on the agreement designed to sharpen EU decision-making and increase its influence. President Lech Kaczynski signed Poland's ratification of the so-called Lisbon Treaty at a ceremony attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other EU leaders.

October 10th, 2009 WARSAW - Polish President Lech Kaczynski ratified the Lisbon Treaty Saturday and left his Czech counterpart as the only European leader remaining to sign the document before it can take effect. Kaczynski signed the treaty, intended to streamline European Union decision-making, a week after it received a Yes vote in a second Irish referendum.

October 9th, 2009 WARSAW - Two Polish soldiers were killed and four injured Friday in an attack in Afghanistan. A bomb exploded under their vehicle in Wardak Province, in the country's central-east region, according to the Polish news agency PAP, which quoted a military spokesman in Warsaw.

September 22nd, 2009 WARSAW - A bank robber who stole about $1,000 at knife-point turns out to have been a priest, prosecutors said Tuesday. The robbery took place Monday afternoon at Polish bank PKO in the town of zamotuly, in western Poland, the Polish Press Agency PAP reported.

September 18th, 2009 WARSAW - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has confirmed that he declined to receive President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's calls on the decision to scrap the planned missile-defense bases in his country. Politico quoted Tusk as saying that he declined to speak with US President Obama during the night because he wanted to "properly prepare for the discussion." He rejected a call from Hillary Clinton because, as the head of the government, he was entitled to speak to the president.

September 16th, 2009 EU backs Barroso for another stint as EU chiefSTRASBOURG, France — The European Parliament has agreed to give Jose Manuel Barroso another five-year term as European Commission President. The EU assembly voted 382 to 219, with 117 abstentions, in backing the conservative Portuguese ex-premier for a second term at the EU's executive office.

September 4th, 2009 WARSAW - One Polish soldier was killed and five others were wounded Friday after a bomb exploded near a Polish convoy in eastern Afghanistan, local media reported. This was the 11th Polish soldier to die in the NATO mission, and the first to die in a KTO Rosomak (Wolverine) armoured vehicle.

July 14th, 2009 EU Assembly elects ex-Polish PM as presidentSTRASBOURG, France — The European Parliament elected Jerzy Buzek as its president Tuesday, making the ex-Polish premier and pro-democracy activist the first easterner from a former Communist country to head a major EU institution. A leading member of the Solidarity trade union that sank Communism in Poland in the late 1980s, Buzek won 555 of the 644 valid votes cast — a first-ballot majority at the inaugural session of the new 736-member EU assembly.

June 9th, 2009 BRUSSELS - The head of the European Union's executive Tuesday formally confirmed that he wants to hold onto his job for another five years. "The President of the European Council (of EU member states) has today asked me if he can put forward my name for a second mandate...

June 8th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's ruling Labour Party appeared Sunday to be heading for a mauling in the elections for the European Parliament as first results showed a sharp fall in support compared with 2004. Results in the North-East region, a Labour stronghold, were down by nine percent, compared with 2004.

May 30th, 2009 Campus building in Ill. named after Lech WalesaCHICAGO — A campus building in Chicago now bears the name of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose Solidarity movement in the '80s helped trigger communism's collapse.

May 8th, 2009 EU lawmakers to Obama: Lift ban on Iranian groupBRUSSELS — More than 100 members of the European Parliament are urging President Barack Obama to remove an Iranian opposition group from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

May 5th, 2009 Canada to talk trade despite EU seal product banTORONTO — Canada's trade minister says a European Parliament ban of Canadian seal products won't prevent Canada and the EU from agreeing on a wide-ranging free-trade agreement. The European Parliament voted Tuesday to ban imports of seal products in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt.

April 30th, 2009 Walesa asks EU to save historic shipyardWARSAW, Poland — Former Polish President Lech Walesa appealed to senior European politicians Thursday to save the struggling Gdansk shipyard, the cradle of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement that he founded. The Gdansk yard has been struggling for years with the threat of bankruptcy.

April 24th, 2009 WARSAW - Indian President Pratibha Patil began a visit to Poland Friday to boost economic ties and anti-terrorism efforts between the two countries. Patil met Polish President Lech Kaczynski and discussed economic cooperation amid growing Polish-Indian business and trade.