NICOSIA - Cyprus on Thursday ratified the European Union's Lisbon Treaty despite the opposition of the eurosceptic communist party of President Demetris Christofias.
A total of 31 MPs out of the 49 present in the 56-seat parliament voted for the treaty, the 17 communist members voted against and there was one abstention.
Thursday's vote came less than a month after Irish voters in a referendum rejected the treaty which is aimed at streamlining EU bureaucracy.
In order to become effective the treaty must be ratified by all 27 members of the European Union. Cyprus became the 20th state to approve the document, but the Irish vote technically left it a dead letter.
"It's been a difficult day for everyone and I'd like to thank everyone for their patience during a tense debate," parliamentary speaker Marios Garoyian said after six hours of debate.
cc/hkb/srm
07/03/2008 17:12 GMT