European leaders hail Czech court's decision in support of Lisbon

Sweden presides over the EU in this half of the year.

The court examined the treaty on the initiative of a group of Czech senators, most of them from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS).

The Czech Republic is the last EU country not to have completed the process of ratification of the treaty.

President Vaclav Klaus could not sign the treaty before the court's verdict even though the EU complied with his condition last week.

Klaus demanded an opt-out from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for the Czech Republic, citing fears that Germans might claim the property that was confiscated from them on the basis of then Czechoslovak president Benes' decrees after World War Two.

"I believe that no further unnecessary delays should prevent the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement for journalists.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said he is convinced that Klaus will now sign the treaty so that it may come into force at the year's end.

The Czech court's verdict was also welcomed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

David Cameron, head of the British Conservatives, on the contrary, said he is disappointed at the Czech court's decision and that he hopes that Klaus will not sign the treaty in spite of the verdict.

Autor: ČTK
www.ctk.cz