CZECH REPUBLIC:CZECH DEPUTY prime minister Alexander Vondra has warned EU leaders not to pressurise Prague to move ahead with ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
He also said yesterday that Prague was annoyed at the angry reaction by some French and German politicians to the Irish No vote to the treaty. "I was very much surprised and I deeply disagree. We need the Irish people in Europe, we should listen to the voices and analyse the results of the referendum," Mr Vondra told The Irish Times in an interview.
The Czech Republic is one of just eight member states that have not ratified the treaty and there is scepticism within its government about the treaty.
The Czech senate has asked the constitutional court to analyse whether the treaty is compatible with its constitution, while the Czech president Vaclav Klaus recently declared that the Lisbon Treaty was dead after the Irish No vote.
Mr Vondra said the treaty was "neither dead nor alive" following the Irish referendum. He said the fact that Britain had ratified the treaty created a different political dynamic compared to when the French and Dutch voted against the EU constitution in 2005.
He said the EU should be careful not to make any difference between bigger and smaller states. "Irish democracy has the same value as the Dutch or the French," said Mr Vondra, who added he would be afraid that the Czech senate may reject the treaty if it was to be considered after the Irish No vote.
He said the treaty was in the "parking lot" at the constitutional court and it would be "absolutely unacceptable to put pressure on the court".