Lisbon Adds To Prague’s Tough Week
Sally McNamara /
It has not been a good week for the Czech Republic. On Thursday, President Obama formally ditched the agreement to deploy elements of America’s missile defense shield there. Twisting the knife further on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened Prague with “consequences” of delaying ratification of Lisbon Treaty, making the statement completely unprompted.
The Lisbon Treaty, a rehashed version of the twice-rejected European Constitution, is awaiting ratification in Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer has indicated that it could take a further six months to ratify the Treaty, which brings it dangerously close to the next British General Election. The return to power of the Conservative Party before Lisbon’s ratification is Brussels’ biggest nightmare: David Cameron has rightly promised to hold the referendum on the Treaty which the Labour government reneged on holding previously. And polls indicate that the British people will return the same verdict on Lisbon that the French, Dutch and Irish have previously: No, Thanks. (more…)