Brussels, 25/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting informally last week in Helsinki, the Presidents of Finland, Austria, Portugal and Latvia called on the French to say “yes” to the European Constitution. According to AFP, the Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio said that the ratification process should continue even if the “noes” have it in France, and Finnish President Tarja Halonen pointed out that “large parts of this treaty are based on existing treaties”, and added: “of course life will go on, but life will be much better if the Constitutional Treaty is accepted”. His Latvian counterpart Vaira Vike-Freiberga voiced concerns at the possible rejection of the Treaty on the stability of the euro, which her country plans to adopt on 1 January 2008.
The Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, will visit France twice before the referendum, to support the “yes” campaign, according to Sunday's El Pais.