[JURIST] Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot [official profile] said Wednesday that the EU constitution [JURIST news archive] is "dead" as far as the Netherlands is concerned, rejecting promised efforts [JURIST report] earlier this week by Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik [official profile] to attempt to revive the charter. Bot spoke after meeting with Plassnik, whose country currently holds the EU presidency [official website], and reiterated that the Netherlands will not make another attempt to ratify the constitution after Dutch citizens overwhelmingly voted "no" [JURIST report] in a referendum last year. Many supporters of the charter are holding out hope that the refusal by The Hague to ratify the constitution is only relevant until changes in political leadership in the Netherlands and France next year, but others remain doubtful that any new politicians will promote the charter's acceptance even after the elections. Bot also rejected French and German ambitions [JURIST report] to resurrect parts of the constitution by saying "cherry-picking" from the text cannot save the charter. EUObserver has more.