Italy hopes that the Czech Republic will ratify the Lisbon treaty as soon as possible and that Czechs will be an organic part of the EU during their EU presidency, Gianfranco Fini, chairman of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, said here on Wednesday.
After his talks with his Czech counterpart Miloslav Vlcek on the same day, Fini said it was impossible to continue with the expansion of the EU if the Lisbon treaty were not signed.
Vlcek told Fini that the Czech Chamber of Deputies would start debating the Lisbon treaty on December 9. However, the day of the vote is still uncertain. The Czech Republic is the last EU country not to have voted on the treaty.
"I have voiced the wish that the Czech Republic manages to ratify the Lisbon treaty as soon as possible. There will be a new European Parliament and a new European Commission in the new year, the institutions whose rules must be based on the new treaty," Fini said.
Fini said the EU could not work against the will of its members, and he expected the Czech Republic not to hamper the determined course.
"We firmly believe that Czechs will be an organic part of the EU, represented by the European metropolis Prague," he added.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus is opposed to the Lisbon treaty. The governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is split on the issue, although its majority tends to support it.
Source:Xinhua
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