Berlin  - The German and Finnish foreign ministers expressed the wish that the Irish electorate votes in favour of the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon when they met in Berlin Tuesday.

"We hope and wish that the referendum in Ireland has a positive result," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Steinmeier and his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, said they were optimistic on a yes vote in Thursday's referendum.

"The most recent numbers are fairly positive," Stubb said.

The Irish referendum topped the agenda of the talks, which also centred on the situation in the Middle East, relations with Moscow and Baltic Sea issues.

The Irish are the only EU members to vote on the treaty. All other 26 members are to ratify it through parliament, with passage guaranteed.

The EU constitutional process was thrown into turmoil in mid 2005, when French and Dutch voters rejected a European constitution by a substantial majority.

The Treaty of Lisbon - a maze of complex amendments to previous deals - is intended to replace the constitutional process. EU leaders want to have it ratified by the end of the year, ahead of elections to the European Parliament next year. (dpa)