During Thursday's meeting of the House of Representatives, the Body’s plenary ratified the Lisbon Treaty with 31 votes in favour, 18 votes against, and one abstention.

Voting in favour of the Treaty were DYSI, DIKO, EDEK and the European Party, while AKEL voted against, and the Ecological Environmental Movement abstained. Cyprus is the first EU country to ratify the Treaty following Ireland’s rejection of it.

The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso and the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering welcomed the ratification by the Cypriot Parliament.

The President of the European Commission delivered the following statement:

"I want to congratulate Cyprus on the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon today. I want to thank the Cypriot Government and Parliament for their strong support for the Treaty. I believe that today's approval of the Treaty is a strong signal of how important it is that all Member States are heard during the ratification process."

The President of the European Parliament commented in a written statement that:

"Coming after the Irish Referendum, the approval by a big majority of the Members of the Cyprus House of Representatives is a very positive signal that the Lisbon Treaty is in Europe's vital interests.

"Twenty Member States of the European Union have now ratified the Treaty. Ratification should go on and all Member States should continue to express their positions on the Treaty by the end of this year. The aim is that the Treaty will have entered into force in time for the European Parliament elections in June 2009," he added, going on to conclude:

"I am particularly pleased that approval in Cyprus was achieved on the basis of a wide political consensus, including both parties in Government and opposition."