The Czech Prime Minister rejects arguments that EU enlargement can go ahead despite Ireland, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter
Ireland will be "a selfish nation, and nothing more" if it rejects the Nice Treaty a second time, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr Milos Zeman, has said.
Speaking during the EU Seville Summit, Mr Zeman said he had "a very, very simple" message for voters: "You were accepted as newly-born children [into the European Union].
"And we are also newly-born children, who also want to be members of the European family. And if you have some fair sense of solidarity as former children, please accept the new children.
"Because your No in the referendum would mean that the Czechs won't be the new children in the European family and you will only be a selfish nation, and nothing more," said Mr Zeman.
He rejected the arguments offered by some anti-Nice campaigners that EU enlargement into central and eastern Europe and the Mediterranean can go ahead regardless of the Irish result.
Certainly, the EU could take in five new members under the terms of the Amsterdam Treaty but, he said, there are more than five waiting in the wings to enter.
"There would be a competition between Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia. Do not forget the Baltic states, and so on, and so on. I think this is simply unjustified. I believe in the principle of solidarity."
Ireland was a poorly developed country prior to its 1973 entry, "which thanks to the EU" has increased enormously its economic performance, said Mr Zeman, who spoke in slightly stilted English.
He went on: "You must feel if you are human beings and not only the animals, selfish animals. You must feel some sense of solidarity to help the new nations to follow the fate of wonderful and beautiful Ireland."
Prime Minister since 1998, Mr Zeman was dismissed from a number of jobs during the Communist era before he joined the Civic Forum that brought about the 1989 Czechoslovak "Velvet Revolution".
The effect an Irish No vote could have on enlargement is becoming increasingly clear as Germany gears up its bid to force major cuts in the Common Agricultural Policy budget next year.
Currently, 10 candidates could sign the accession agreements with time to spare before year's end - though some EU states may use an Irish No vote to force last minute concessions from them.
Last week, 15 EU ministers agreed to put talks on agriculture with the candidates to one side until the result of the increasingly tight German elections, due on September 22nd, are known.
Though the EU leaders' final conclusions raised the prospect that deals with candidate countries could be done in early November, the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, said he might take his own decision in December.
Privately, diplomats from some candidate countries believe that the Germans, and others may leave the deal in the balance until the Copenhagen Summit on December 12th-13th and then adopt "take it or leave it" tactics.
The European Commission has proposed that direct payments to new member-states should be phased in over a decade, beginning at 25 per cent of the rate on offer to existing member-state farmers.
The candidates have rejected this, while Germany has made it clear that savings will have to be made elsewhere in the CAP budget if an EU financial crisis is to be avoided.
Speaking at his final press conference in Seville, the German Chancellor pulled no punches: "I expect concessions from those who profit from the Common Agricultural Policy."
Member-states should pay half of all agricultural subsidies - a demand which will make Ireland's traditional alliance on agriculture with French President Mr Jacques Chirac even more vital in the months ahead.
If the accession talks on agriculture are delayed into the New Year, then they will be increasingly difficult to resolve because the EU's mid-term review of the 1999 Berlin deal on the CAP begins from mid-year.
The Polish Prime Minister, Mr Leszek Miller, remained calm despite the pressures. "I am not afraid of any delays in enlargement. We heard again that it will take place in 2004."