[JURIST] Sweden, Finland and Portugal have joined Britain, Denmark, Ireland [JURIST report] and the Czech Republic in postponing their ratifications of the EU constitution after European heads of governent Thursday agreed to extend the ratification deadline [JURIST report] into 2007. Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said Friday [PA report] in a Swedish radio interview that if France and the Netherlands were not prepared to go back to their citizens for revotes after failed ratification referenda there was no point in Sweden starting a ratification process. All 25 EU member states must ratify the charter before it can come into force. Persson went on to say, however, that the constitution was urgently needed: "Without this constitution the union is in total crisis. The constitution must be realised, because the union is growing with new member states, and the constitution regulates how to take decisions in such a situation." BBC News has more.