Vondra: Czechs will not speed-up Lisbon ratification under foreign pressure

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra said that when and how the Czech Republic ratifies the Lisbon Treaty is entirely up to Czechs to decide. Mr Vondra told MEPs that his government would not respond to European pressure by speeding up the process. The Czech Republic is the last country in Europe still to vote on the EU reform document. Following a ruling by the Constitutional Court in Brno last November, Czech MPs voted to postpone a decision on the treaty until February 2009. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has spoken out in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, while Czech president Václav Klaus is known to be a fierce opponent of the reform document.

Author: Rosie Johnston