Influential MEP warns Czechs of isolation for obstructing Lisbon

German MEP Jo Leinen, who chairs the parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, warned the Czech Republic of isolation on Thursday over a constitutional complaint regarding the Lisbon Treaty filed by a group of Czech senators. Mr Leinen said that the Czech Republic risked isolation and a weakened position in the European Union, and that the EU should not allow a single head of a member state to obstruct the passage of the reform treaty. The complaint, made largely by members of the Civic Democratic Party, is seen by critics even in the Czech Republic as stalling tactic allowing President Klaus to defer his signing of the treaty and thereby its ratification.