By Clare MacCarthy in Copenhagen
Published: June 2 2005 11:21 | Last updated: June 2 2005 11:21
Lavia's parliament on Thursday sent an unequivocal signal to its fellow European Union members by ratifying the constitutional treaty less than 24 hours after the Dutch had turned it down.
The parliamentary vote, which had been brought forward by prime minister Aigars Kalvitis following France's rejection of the treaty on Sunday, ended with 71 out of 100 deputies in favour.
Latvia's foreign minister, Artis Pabriks, said the vote signalled his country's confidence in Europe and Latvia's hope that momentum should be maintained.
"This is a gesture to the rest of the world that we want the ratification process to continue," said Liene Kule, a senior analyst with Hansabankan in Riga, the Latvian capital.
But with the United Kingdom still mulling its options about whether to abandon its planned referendum, the Latvian signal is unlikely to carry much weight in other European Union capitals.
"Nobody thinks we're powerful players. We do what we can and no more," Ms Kule said.
Latvia, which only joined the EU in May last year, has become one of the bloc's fastest-growing economies with a GDP growth of 8.5 per cent in 2004.
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