The president of the sole remaining EU member yet to sign the controversial Lisbon Treaty, Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, said in an interview Saturday that the treaty was probably now unstoppable, according to dpa. Following a "yes" vote in the Irish referendum, and Poland signing up to the treaty, the Eurosceptic Czech president is the final obstacle to ratification of the treaty among the 27-member bloc. Speaking to the Czech newspaper Lidove Noviny, Klaus indicated he was still opposed to the document, which will streamline EU decision- making, as well as creating new posts of de facto president and foreign minister for the EU. "I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic," Klaus told the paper. "However, the train has already travelled so fast and so far that I guess it will not be possible to stop it or turn it around, however much we would wish to." In a last-minute objection after the Irish referendum, Klaus demanded that the Czech Republic get an exemption from the treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights before he ratifies it. He wants a clause added which would protect Czechs from World War Two claims for property in the republic seized from expelled ethnic Germans after the war. Klaus is waiting for a ruling on October 27 by the country's Constitutional Court on a challenge to the treaty filed by a group of Czech senators before signing. The Lisbon Treaty, if ratified, will end national vetoes in Brussels in many policy areas, to be replaced with majority voting, as well as creating a permanent president, and a high representative for foreign affairs. Britain's former prime minister, Tony Blair, has been tipped for the role of president, although is thought to face stiff opposition from some EU leaders.
