The Czech Republic is heading to an upcoming EU summit starting in Brussels Thursday as an advocate for Ireland, whose voters rejected the so-called Lisbon Treaty meant to reform institutions of the 27-member European Union, according to dpa. "The proposal is clear. Don't put any pressure on anybody," Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra told reporters Wednesday. "We do not want to follow the prescription of some who want to corner Ireland." Since the Irish referendum, the Czech eurosceptic centre-right government has avoided giving a clear stance on the future of the pact's ratification process. Vondra said it would have been wrong to say whether the country would proceed with the ratification, as the charter is currently under review of the country's Constitutional Court. "The ratification process in parliament is interrupted," he said. "We have to wait. It is (in) a parking lot." The government has been cautious in comparison to President Vaclav Klaus who repeated Wednesday that the Irish no vote has finished off the charter. "I do not understand the British parliament if it votes about it," Klaus told reporters in reference to Britain's decision to continue with the ratification. But Vondra suggested that Prague may not bury the treaty. "We do not say no," he said in reference to ratification.
