President declines to reveal whether he will sign Lisbon

In related news, President Václav Klaus would not tell journalists in Brussels on Thursday whether he was ready to sign the Lisbon treaty designed to reform the running of the EU. He was asked the question at a press conference following his speech in the European Parliament, saying that “chess players did not announce their move in advance”. He did say he expected a serious debate on the Lisbon treaty in the Czech Senate, which has now to discuss the issue, after the Czech lower house passed the treaty this week. Mr Klaus is a fierce opponent of the document which needs to be approved by all 27 EU members to come into effect.

Author: Jan Velinger