Europe News

Poland to withdraw its troops from Iraq in 2008

Nov 23, 2007, 11:39 GMT

Warsaw - Poland will withdraw all its troops from Iraq by the end of 2008, new Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in his first address to the Polish parliament on Friday.

'We will conduct this operation keeping in mind that our commitment to our ally, the United States, has been lived up to and exceeded,' he said.

'The specific logistics and date will come from consultations with our allies, including our main ally, the United States. But 2008 is the last year of the polish military mission in Iraq,' he added.

According to the new government programme of Tusk's People's Platform (PO) and its coalition partner, the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), the country would also refrain from signing the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights because it did not want to jeopardize the ratification of the EU Reform Treaty in Poland.