(Adds quotes from news conference paragraphs 5-7)
PRAGUE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Czech ratification of the EU's
Lisbon treaty has been jeopardised by comments made by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek
was quoted on Monday as saying.
Sarkozy angered the Czechs -- who hold the rotating European
Union presidency -- last week by suggesting in an interview that
French car companies should move production back home from
countries like the Czech Republic.
"What Nicolas Sarkozy said is unbelievable," Topolanek said
in an interview with the daily Hospodarske Noviny. "If somebody
wanted to seriously threaten ratification of the Lisbon Treaty,
they couldn't have picked a better means or time."
The Czech Republic is the only EU nation that has not held a
vote on the Lisbon Treaty, which is meant to streamline the
bloc's decision-making after it grew to 27 members from 15 in
the past five years.
Topolanek later told a news conference that comments like
Sarkozy's gave ammunition to opponents of the treaty who say it
would harm smaller countries -- a big issue for some in
Topolanek's ruling party that has held up ratification.
"The main argument of those who do not agree with the Lisbon
Treaty today ... is that the big countries will create ground,
by a shift in authorities to the European level, for a greater
influence over the areas concerned," he said.
"If one of the big countries like France makes a comment
like Nicolas Sarkozy, then it proves these people right. If this
is what the future of the EU should be, then I have to say it is
not good news for all the smaller countries."
The Czechs have had a bumpy relationship with France, which
held the EU presidency in the second half of 2008.
Sarkozy, a fast-moving crisis manager during France's term,
has continued to develop diplomatic initiatives during the Czech
presidency, irking Czech diplomats.
When an interviewer suggested last week that the Czech
Republic was not a visible or strong EU president, he merely
said: "They are doing what they can."
TOPOLANEK BACKS TREATY
Topolanek has said he does not like the treaty but
grudgingly backs it as a price worth paying for EU membership.
He reiterated in the interview that he would vote for the
document, but he faces opposition from backbenchers in his own
party, some of whom have said they will quit if Lisbon is
approved. That would further weaken Topolanek's administration,
which already lacks a parliamentary majority.
Topolanek's Civic Democrats have also linked approval of the
document to ratification of a separate plan to build a U.S.
missile defence radar southwest of Prague.
The leftist opposition has criticised the radar plan, and
given the equal balance of power between the government and
opposition in parliament, both plans may be kept waiting in at
least one chamber of parliament for weeks or even months.
The lower house is due to discuss the treaty next week but
is not certain to hold a vote.
The treaty, which must be ratified by all 27 EU countries to
take effect, would give the bloc a long-term president, a more
powerful foreign representative, and change voting procedures to
remove the need for unanimity in some cases.
It has been ratified so far by 24 countries. Ireland
rejected the treaty in a referendum but plans to hold a new vote
later this year. The Polish parliament has approved the treaty
but the president has yet to sign it. In Germany, the treaty has
been approved but faces a challenge in the constitutional court.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet, editing by Tim Pearce)
