Tuesday, December 09, 2008

German Pressure on Ireland

Newsletter 2008/12/08 - Europe's Polyarchy

BERLIN/DUBLIN/PRAGUE (Own report) - Berlin is increasing the pressure on the opponents to the Lisbon Treaty. According to the Vatican German pressure is being applied. German politicians are demanding that theIrish Bishops publicly call for a "Yes" vote in the re-run of the Irish referendum to avoid a renewed defeat. The government in Dublin will announce the modalities and the timetable for the referendum re-run after consultations with the German chancellor at the EU summit this week. As a supplement, the German government has launched a campaign against the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus,whose negative attitude endangers the treaty's ratification. In the Czech Republic, the treaty enters into effect only after the president has given his accord. Václav Klaus is the "spiritus rector" of the"anti-Europeans" and "not harmless," according to the chairman of the social democratic group in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, from Germany. Schulz announced his intentions to show the Czechs "their limits" also during their term as President of the European Council, which begins January 1.

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http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56208

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