Czech, Slovak PMs to lobby for early Croatia accession

The Czech and Slovak prime ministers have joined forces in opposing French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s view that Croatia’s EU accession should be delayed following the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Ireland.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico met in the Czech capital yesterday (21 August) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the crackdown on the Prague Spring uprising by 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops (EURACTIV 1/08/08). The two leaders said it is in both countries’ interest for Croatia to join the EU as soon as possible. This position contradicts the view of French President and current EU Presidency holder Nicolas Sarkozy, who insists there will be no new enlargement until the Lisbon Treaty is ratified (EURACTIV 9/07/08). 

Fico said formal obstacles which result from the Irish ‘no’ to the Lisbon Treaty must not be allowed to stand in the way of Croatia’s EU accession, while Topolanek announced that Croatian entry would be one of the priorities of the Czech EU Presidency in the first half of next year. Fico said both he and Topolanek would lobby in favour of this with other EU countries. 

Earlier in June, Topolanek said Croatia could be admitted to the EU on the basis of the Treaty of Nice, which entered into force in February 2003. But this would require a special agreement between the 27 EU members as the Nice Treaty only provides an institutional framework for 27 members. 

On the occasion of the Prague Spring commemoration, former Czech President and one-time leading dissident Vaclav Havel offered an optimistic assessment of his country’s relations with the EU. In an interview for French news channel France 24, Havel denied that Euroscepticism prevails in Czech opinion as the international press often claims. He also said most Czechs are satisfied with EU membership, but he admitted that a tendency to grumble is part of their national character. 

Asked about current President Vaclav Klaus’s reserved relationship with the EU, Havel said Klaus “likes to provoke”. But it is not up to Klaus to stipulate whether the Lisbon Treaty’s ratification process has ceased or not, Havel added. 

Read more with Euractiv

Aland Islands could reject Lisbon Treaty

The parliament of Finland's autonomous Aland Islands is currently weighing up whether to vote for or against the EU's Reform Treaty, which has already been ratified by Helsinki. Rejection would put Finland in the awkward situation of not being able guarantee the implementation of the treaty throughout the whole of its territory.