By no means can the treaty take effect, Klaus said, adding that he was for the EU's further enlargement that can continue even without the Lisbon treaty. Klaus, who is recovering from a hip surgery, responded El Pais's questions by e-mail. Commenting on the situation Czech ForMin wants Prague to ratify Lisbon treaty by year-end ...
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CzechRep may face trial over recognition of qualifications ... following the Irish "no" Klaus wrote that the EU cannot ignore its own rules [that set all members' consent as a condition for the treaty's validity]. "Any attempt to ignore this and to resort to pressure and political manipulation aimed to push the text through would have catastrophic consequences for Europe," Klaus said without elaborating. In the Czech Republic, the treaty is now being assessed by the Constitutional Court," Klaus says, adding, nevertheless, that the final result will be the same irrespective of the Czech decision. "Either with the Czech yes or without it, the treaty cannot be ratified and it cannot come into force," Klaus wrote. He calls the Lisbon treaty, aimed to reform EU institutions, "a step in a bad direction, which extends the deficit of democracy in the EU." "We need a new vision of the European integration process.
It is necessary to reject the development launched by Maastricht. The [new] document must be written on a different basis and by different people," Klaus says. EU enlargement has to continue, with Croatia's turn being the next. "The Lisbon treaty is not the only alternative for the EU to follow this path," Klaus says. He writes there are two types of politicians in the EU - Eurorealists and Euronaivists. I am a Eurorealist, which means I don't applaud anything that comes from the EU without examining it. I assess certain aspects of European integration critically. The Euronaivists consider this scepticism, as they are sure that the EU must permanently move and that any new initiative automatically improves the process of integration," Klaus writes. Asked whether he assesses his country's four-year membership of the EU positively, he said "the Czechs did not join the EU to gain the feeling that they are Europeans. We should let citizens be Czechs, Poles, Italians, Danish, not turn them into European citizens. This is a wrong project." In the interview Klaus supported the U.S. plan to install a part of its missile defence shield on Czech soil. He also reiterated that in the debate on so-called fight against global warming, it is "not climate but our freedom and prosperity that is at stake."
(Ceske Noviny)
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