Prague - Polish and Czech leaders planned Friday to discuss
the future of the European Union's reform treaty, which the Czech
president declared dead after Irish voters rejected it.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski's visit to Prague has led to
speculation that he will urge his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus to
support the Lisbon Treaty, which neither country has ratified.
The two leaders were to discuss 'developments in the European
Union after rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland' over dinner
Thursday, Klaus's office said.
Klaus is a longtime critic of the EU accord, designed to
streamline decision-making in the expanded 27-nation bloc. He says
it's too federalist and too much like a European constitution.
Klaus had previously pledged not to block the treaty but called it
dead as soon as Irish voters rejected it in a June 12 referendum.
Since then, he has left open whether he would sign the pact if the
Czech parliament approves it.
Kaczynski also has not signed the treaty, but Poland is a step
further because parliament has ratified it. In the Czech Republic,
the country's supreme court is reviewing whether the Lisbon Treaty is
constitutional.
The Polish leader, also seen as a eurosceptic and treaty critic,
is an unlikely advocate.
He initially called his signing of the accord 'pointless' but soon
assured French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who launched efforts to
rescue the treaty, that Poland will not stand in the way.
Approval by all EU members is needed for the treaty to take
effect. So far, parliaments of 20 countries have endorsed it.
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