EU referendum: Czech president says Lisbon Treaty project is over

By Justin Stares in Brussels
Last Updated: 1:51PM BST 14/06/2008

The Czechs have hammered another nail into the coffin of the Lisbon treaty by declaring that ratification must stop.



The EU treaty has been rejected by voters in Ireland

Czech president Vaclav Klaus, who is supported by the country's largest political party, called the Irish referendum vote a "victory of freedom and reason" and said "ratification cannot continue".

His view was echoed in the Czech senate.

"Politicians have allowed the citizens to express their opinion only in a single EU country," Mr Klaus said.

Article continuesadvertisement

"The Lisbon treaty project ended with the Irish voters' decision and its ratification cannot continue," he wrote on his own website, according to Czech news agency CTK.

The resounding Irish no was a "victory of freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy," he said.

Premysl Sobotka, Czech senate chairman, also said there was "no sense" continuing with ratification, according to the agency.

The Czech Republic, traditionally one of the more Euro-skeptic of the EU's 27 member states, is one of nine countries which have not yet ratified the treaty.

While little opposition to continued ratification has been seen yet among leaders of the other eight, efforts to keep the Lisbon Treaty alive in any form would be near impossible if another country joined Ireland in rejection.

A summit of EU leaders will look for possible solutions to the institutional crisis next week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -over.html