The frantic running around bullying the Czechs after a goodly stint
on bullying the Irish shows how worried the federalists are getting!
The Irish politicians, most of whom wanted a 'Yes' vote have bogged
the process of "finding a solution" (=making NO look like YES) down
in Committees while leaking in Ireland stories of Ireland's
isolation. In this way they hope to bore the Irish people into
changing their minds!
But the Czech president's visit has stirred up a hornets' nest and
the politicians are screaming with rage!
Meanwhile the 'nasties' from that very nasty body, the European
parliament are busy pressurising the Czechs who themselves have not
ratified the treaty and, indeed,there is an outside chance that they
might not do so. The federalists are worried that as the Czech
Republic's assumption of the Presidency of the EU starts on January
1st they may be faced with a eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus as EU president!
xxxxxxxxxx cs
=========================
EU OBSERVER 12.11.08
Czech president and Irish No camp hold victory banquet
LISBETH KIRK
DUBLIN - Czech President Vaclav Klaus ends a three-day official
visit to Ireland on Wednesday (12 November), a trip marked by a great
deal more controversy than most trips by heads of state to Dublin.
The Irish government is still struggling to find answers to satisfy
both Irish voters and other governments in the European Union after a
majority of people voted down the Lisbon treaty in a referendum in June.
"We must find ways of allaying the concerns raised by the Irish
people. We must do so, however, in a manner that proves acceptable to
our EU partners. This combination will not be easy to achieve, but I
am determined to do so," Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen declared on the
first day of the state visit.
The Irish leader is expected to come up with a proposal for a
solution at the EU summit in December, just one month from now.
Meanwhile, a special committee of the Irish parliament is still busy
organising hearings to figure out why the majority of the Irish voted
No.
With the Czech republic taking over the EU presidency from January
2009, Prague will be tasked to find a solution to the Lisbon treaty
stalemate. But the country itself has not yet ratified the text, with
a decision of the Constitutional Court expected on 25 November and
the president so far refusing to sign the treaty.
"This state visit was planned long ago, and before the referendum on
the Lisbon treaty had even taken place," the Czech head of state
pointed out at a press conference in Dublin on Tuesday (11 November).
"Changes have been going on in the European Union, in radical shifts
going from integration to unification, from inter-governmentalism to
supranationalism," Vaclav Klaus said, adding that the Lisbon treaty
was accelerating the shifts.
"We have the feeling - some of us - that it is not adding to positive
development in Europe and that democracy and freedom are not to be
enhanced by the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. To the contrary."
President Klaus said he had followed with great interest the
referendums in Ireland in 2008 and in France and the Netherlands in
2005, all ending with the majority of the electorate rejecting new EU
treaties.
"Because of our Communist past, we are extremely sensitive about the
idea of freedom and democracy, perhaps even over sensitive," he
admitted.
"We are part of Europe and have always been. We have no other chance
than to participate in European integration ... What we are talking
about is the internal development of the European Union. You can have
different views on how to organise the Union and what competences
move from Dublin or Prague to Brussels. That is the issue of the day."
Malcontents' dinner
The Irish government hosting the visit had made no secret of their
discontent that Mr Klaus accepted an invitation to dine with the
leaders of the Irish No campaign while he was in Ireland.
At the invitation of one of the No groups, Libertas leader Declan
Ganley, some 80 people celebrated the referendum result at the
fashionable Shelbourne Hotel in central Dublin. Among the guests were
the leader of the French right-wing nationalist party Mouvement Pour
La France, Philippe de Villiers, and Austrian independent MEP, Hans-
Peter Martin.
President Klaus and Mr Ganley held a joint press conference in the
Constitutional Room at the hotel, where the first constitution for a
free Irish state was drafted in 1922. Some of the drafts written on
an old-style typewriter can be studied in the room, with corrections
of the texts showing how difficult drafting treaties was at the time.
The Czech president denied breaching protocol by meeting Mr Ganley
and his campaigners during the official state visit.
"During two days with official representatives of the Irish
government, no one mentioned this meeting. It is a creation of part
of the media, seeing a problem," President Klaus said.
Mr Ganley added that French President Sarkozy had not been criticised
for meeting No camp representatives when he visited Ireland earlier
in the year.
Libertas speculation
Declan Ganley recently registered his group, Libertas, as a political
party under Irish law, with speculation growing that he might run a
list in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June 2009.
"Libertas is in active discussion with people in many countries
sharing our views," the group's leader said.
"June 2009 might be an opportunity to give people the European
referendum they have not had," he hinted, holding back however from
offering further details.
Asked whether he would support such a pan-European political
initiative, Vaclav Klaus said he would not join any such movement as
president of his country.
"But if Mr Ganley wins the European elections I will be the first one
to congratulate him."
===================
2. MEPs pressure Prague to ratify Lisbon treaty
VALENTINA POP
BRUSSELS - The Czech Republic could be "a bigger problem than
Ireland" for the ratification of the Lisbon treaty, German social-
democrat MEP Jo Leinen told EUobserver after returning from Prague on
a delegation divided by its approach to the problem.
A group of "hardliners in the Senate" and Czech President Vaclav
Klaus are playing a "postponing game" on Lisbon, Mr Leinen explained,
saying the clique has already ensured Lisbon will not be ratified by
the time the Czech r
epublic takes over the EU presidency on 1 January 2009.
"There will be a shadow on the Czech presidency and they will be
confronted with this situation already at the December summit and
from the first day of their presidency," the MEP, who is the chairman
of the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee,
explained.
The European Parliament delegation visited the Czech capital last
week, after a verdict by the constitutional court on whether the EU
treaty is compatible with the country's charter was postponed from 10
November to 25 November.
The Czech republic and Ireland are the biggest obstacles to Lisbon
ratification, although the German and Polish presidents have also
refused to sign off on the text for now.
Prague will resume its parliamentary procedure after the
constitutional court verdict. But Ireland rejected the text in a
referendum in June, with pro-Lisbon treaty politicians now keen to
isolate Dublin to force a second vote.
"The key problem that we face is to oblige and persuade the Irish to
change their mind about the Treaty of Lisbon, and the [Czech]
presidency will play a key part in that exercise. So instead of
becoming part of the solution to the Irish problem, a Czech
presidency that is reluctant to ratify itself will become part of the
problem," UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff told this website.
"Until they ratify, the Czech EU presidency will not have credibility
and authority," he added.
Failure to adopt Lisbon could in the end split the EU into sub-
groups, the British constitutional expert warned. "[It would] break
the cohesion of the EU, leaving the Czechs and Irish behind, for
instance in establishing a separate [EU] treaty in security and
defence matters."
Danish eurosceptic MEP Hanne Dahl has complained about the
delegation's Czech foray on her personal blog, however, calling her
colleagues' attempt to pressure Czech politicians a breach of "normal
diplomatic behaviour" and "completely unacceptable."
"What several members of the delegation said was not in any way the
official opinion of the EU parliament. The [parliament] did not issue
a statement saying that it thinks the Czech republic is not qualified
to chair the EU presidency because it didn't ratify the Lisbon
Treaty," she said.
Ms Dahl said the situation is exemplary of how smaller EU countries
are treated if they do not follow the mainstream, adding that some EU
capitals want to set up a rotating EU presidency among just the six
biggest EU states if Lisbon fails.
Denmark is also a small country which had four opt-outs from common
EU policies when it chaired the EU "quite successfully" in 2002,
undermining the argument that the Czech republic cannot do a good
job, she argued.
Her remarks left Mr Duff unfazed. "We certainly ought not to
apologise at all for putting pressure on the Czech parliament, the
sooner they can conclude it [the ratification], the more pleased we
would be and the better the prospect for persuading the Irish to
alter their mind would be." [There's true EU arrogance for you - cs]
'EU dissident' meets No campaigner
Meanwhile, Czech President Vaclav Klaus planned to meet Irish
politician and No-campaigner Declan Ganley in Dublin on Tuesday (11
November).
"My predecessor Vaclav Havel also liked to meet dissidents in
different countries, so I will now meet a European Union dissident.
And I see myself as one of them," Mr Klaus said before making the trip.
Mr Ganley is chairman of the Libertas association, which led the
campaign for a No vote in June. Mr Klaus was the only European head
of state to welcome the Irish rejection of the treaty, aimed at
streamlining EU decision-making after recent enlargement, calling it
a "victory over European bureaucracy."
The Libertas website said Mr Ganley was now working on "a platform
that could give all EU citizens a chance to express their views on
Lisbon at the ballot box next June" - the date of the next European
elections.
====================
IRISH TIMES 12.11.08
Martin says Klaus comments 'inappropriate'
CIARA O'BRIEN
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has described comments
made by the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, at a press
conference in Dublin last night as "an inappropriate intervention".
Mr Klaus held a joint press conference with the founder of the anti-
Lisbon Treaty group Libertas Declan Ganley, ahead of a private dinner
in honour of Mr Klaus in the Shelbourne hotel.
He warned of a shift towards "supranationalism" in Europe, and that
the Lisbon Treaty would not enhance freedom and democracy.
He also said he was "not happy" with what he saw as attempts by
Europe to "forget the Irish referendum and to change the result".
Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland today, Mr Martin said the comments
were inappropriate but that it was already widely known that Mr Klaus
held what he described as "controversial views" on a lot of issues.
"I think the press conference last night and the very clear political
comments made made by President Klaus, we would regard as an
inappropriate intervention in the context of such a State visit,
particularly at a time when the Irish Government is engaged in
discussions with our partners in the European Unions on behalf of the
Irish people," he said.
Plans for Mr Klaus to attend the private dinner hosted by Mr Ganley
had generated controversy in recent days.
Mr Martin said that Department of Foreign Affairs officials would
have explained normal protocol attaching to a State visit. However,
he said the Government had not made any formal protest or objection
to last night's meeting between Mr Ganley and the Czech president.
Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins last night called
on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to lodge a formal complaint with
his Czech counterpart.
About 80 people attended the dinner including the Austrian MEP Hans-
Peter Martin; Independent Munster MEP Kathy Sinnott; former MEP
Patricia McKenna of the Green Party; Anthony Coughlan of the National
Platform; [whom I quote inpostings quite frequently. He has long been
one of the most stalwart opponents of the EU-cs] newspaper columnist
Bruce Arnold and Libertas spokeswoman Caroline Simons. Reporters were
excluded from the dinner.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
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