Czech Republic to sign the Declaration of Berlin

Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency, has won the consent of all twenty seven EU member states for the text of its so-called Declaration of Berlin, which is intended to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome - the document that paved the way for the establishment of the European Union. Despite initial reservations, the Czech Republic agreed to the Berlin declaration after German chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Czech president Vaclav Klaus and prime minister Mirek Topolanek. A spokesman for the government said that it had seen the text of the document and believed it was purely symbolic in nature. He also added that the declaration makes no reference to the controversial European constitution. Mr Topolanek had earlier criticised the fact that the Czech Republic only received the text shortly before it was due to be ratified.