Lisbon Treaty
October 17, 2009
The Czech Republic is the last of the 27 European Union countries to not ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty and its euroskeptic President Vaclav Klaus has done everything he can to prevent the treaty from going through. Now he has told the Czech daily Lidovy Noviny the treaty can't be stopped.
"The train carrying the treaty is going so fast and it's so far that it can't be stopped or returned," he told the paper. "No matter how much some of us would want that."
Klaus has dragged his feet on signing the document, which is meant to streamline EU operations and give the bloc a long-term president, even though the Czech parliament has already voted in favor of it.
Recently he demanded an exemption for the Czech Republic to prevent Germans expelled after World War II from using EU laws to get around Czech laws and reclaim property.
Klaus is opposed to the treaty on principle, telling Lidovy Noviny, "I do not consider the Lisbon treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic."
Klaus denies he's stalling for Britain
Some observers have wondered if Klaus' most recent stipulation is simply a stalling tactic, meant to give British conservative leader David Cameron the time to win upcoming general elections in the United Kingdom and hold a promised nation-wide referendum on the treaty.
But Klaus told the Lidovy Noviny that he did not intend to wait until after British elections.
"I cannot and I will not wait for British elections, unless they hold them in the next few days or weeks," he said.
Currently, the Czech Constitutional Court is looking into whether the treaty is in compliance with the country’s constitution. A hearing is scheduled for October 27 and Klaus is barred from signing the document until after the court’s decision.
hf/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer