EU to have death penalty day thanks to new Polish govt

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union will have a day against the death penalty on October 10 thanks to a change of government in Poland, which blocked the plans this year, the EU's Portuguese presidency said Thursday.

Poland's previous conservative government vetoed EU moves to establish a "European Day Against the Death Penalty" arguing that the right to life should also be marked on such an occasion.

But with the arrival of liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk's cabinet, the occasion will be marked on October 10, a day that has existed internationally since 2003, in a decision to be endorsed by EU justice ministers on Friday.

Warsaw's use of its veto came just ahead of the early elections on October 21 that brought Tusk to power and was the last in a series of headaches the previous administration caused.

Poland, whose Kaczynski brothers held the post of president and prime minister, continually held up drafting of a new treaty of EU reforms -- sometimes baffling its partners.

It also delayed agreement on the bloc's long term budget.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, 1,591 people were executed in the world in 2006. China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the United States are among countries that still impose the death penalty.