(LJUBLJANA) - Denmark will most probably ratify the European Union Treaty before Easter, Danish Prime Minister Anders Forgh Rasmussen said here on Wednesday.

Copenhagen had already initiated the procedure in parliament and "I expect to finalise the ratification before Easter," Rasumssen told a news conference during a one-day visit to Slovenia, which currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency.

"Denmark will probably be among the first to ratify the treaty," he added.

Hungary, Slovenia and Malta have already ratified the treaty, which was signed by all 27 member states last December in Lisbon.

The aim of the treaty is to streamline decision-making within the bloc, replacing a more ambitious EU constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005.

Slovenia, the first of the EU's newest member states to hold the bloc's presidency, has made the ratification of the treaty by all member countries one of its priorities during its six-month term as president.

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