Czech President welcomes Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty

Czech President Václav Klaus has welcomed Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty in a referendum held on Thursday, calling it “the victory of freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy.” Mr Klaus noted that Ireland was the only EU country to allow its citizens to express their opinion and said the result should be a clear message to everybody. “The Lisbon treaty project ended today with the decision of the Irish voters and its ratification cannot be continued,” he said in a statement. The Czech head of state has repeatedly expressed his reservations about the text of the Lisbon treaty and his doubts about further development of the EU.