Deputy PM Bursik said he cannot imagine the Lisbon treaty not to be ratified in by the end of the year. The Lisbon treaty to reform the EU institutions and enable its further enlargement must be ratified by all 27 EU member states to take effect.
Irish voters rejected the document in a referendum lately. Bursik told CT that Topolanek must persuade part of his ODS to change the opinion about the document, and see to it that the Lisbon treaty be ratified. This is the most important task for Topolanek ahead of the Czech Republic's EU presidency in the first half of 2009, Bursik stressed. He added that Czech Greens to hold extraordinary congress on September 5-7 ...
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U.N. Human rights body criticises Czechs over Romanies, cage beds ... the government deputies and senators from the ODS, SZ and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) are automatically expected to vote for the Lisbon treaty. Bursik also said the coalition government cannot work properly without the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. He, however, said a possible split of the cabinet ahead of the Czech EU presidency is not in question currently. "We must cope with our [EU] presidency since we represent the Czech Republic as such. Not political parties are concerned any more, but we must show up that the Czech Republic is part of Europe," said Bursik. "The Czech Republic must prove that we are able to lead a European dialogue and seek solutions," Bursik added. The Czech Republic, one of the eight EU countries not to have ratified the reform treaty yet, pushed through at the EU summit a clause, saying that the ratification process in the country would be suspended until the Constitutional Court assesses the treaty's compatibility with Czech law. Czech parliament is to deal with the Lisbon treaty in the autumn after the Constitutional court issues its stance. Some ODS legislators consider the Lisbon treaty "dead" after the Irish "No." President Vaclav Klaus, former ODS long-term head and its current honorary chairman, is of the same view. Topolanek recently said if parliament did not approve the treaty on the stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil, the ODS legislators would probably not vote for the Lisbon treaty. On the other hand, some Greens oppose the planned U.S. radar to be built in the Czech Republic. Bursik today said he had not consulted a possible connection of both ratification processes with Topolanek. However, he added he disagrees with Topolanek's stance to connect both issues as such steps "vulgarise Czech politics." "To trade in these two matters that are absolutely incommensurable [Lisbon treaty and U.S. radar] does not correspond to a high political culture in my opinion," Bursik pointed out.
(Ceske Noviny)
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