Sarkozy puts Czechs under pressure

During a meeting yesterday in Prague with the heads of government of the Visegrad countries, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear that the Lisbon process must continue even after the Irish No. The Czechs have so far refused to declare their commitment to the Treaty. The conservative daily Lidove Noviny writes: "He [Sarkozy] did not actually call directly on Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. He chose an indirect approach: 'We will give you time to decide, but we do not want to waste time.' At the same time he warned: 'The Czech Republic calls for EU enlargement in the Balkans. But without Lisbon there will be no further enlargement.' Despite this warning neither Sarkozy nor the other participants received a clear answer [from Topolanek]."

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