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Czechs put new hurdle in way of Lisbon pact
Vaclav Klaus, the Eurosceptic Czech president, yesterday put up yet another hurdle before ratifying the Lisbon treaty, a demand for an opt-out from the pact's charter of rights and freedoms similar to that obtained by Britain and Poland.
“Before the ratification, the Czech Republic must at least ex post negotiate a similar exemption,” Mr Klaus said, explaining that the opt-out is needed to prevent the heirs of the millions of Sudeten Germans expelled after the second world war from filing land claims to regain their property. “It [the treaty] endangers the legal status of the citizens and the stability of property rights in our country.”
Mr Klaus's new demand stirred confusion a week after Irish voters appeared to clarify the bloc's future by approving the treaty in a second referendum. Lisbon, first proposed in 2001, is seen as vital to streamlining the EU and allowing it to project greater power on the world stage.
Although the Czech parliament has approved the treaty, Mr Klaus has refused to sign, first saying he would wait for the Irish referendum, then saying his hands were tied because of a second appeal filed by rebel senators before the Czech courts.
Some EU officials dismissed the new request as another delaying tactic, noting that the Czech president had let two years pass without explicitly raising the Sudeten issue.
Others argued that Mr Klaus's statement could perversely nudge the treaty toward adoption because it had at last clarified his position. “Now we know what he wants,” said a diplomat from Sweden.
