Brussels, 07/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 7 December, EU justice ministers finally gave the go-ahead for a 'European Anti-Death Penalty Day' on 10 October, announced the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. The decision was made possible by the withdrawal of the Polish veto following the change of government in the country. The initiative should now get unanimous agreement from the member states, unlike the situation in September 2007 with the previous Polish government. The Polish veto strongly irritated the other member states at a time when the EU was circulating a resolution at the UN general assembly calling for a universal moratorium on the death penalty. The non-binding resolution will be adopted in the near future but opponents of the ban have already announced that they will ignore it. According to Amnesty International, 1591 people were executed around the world in 2006, mostly in China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and the United States, which have still not abolished the death penalty. (B.C.)