Czech crisis has no impact on EU presidency

The fall of the Czech government will have "no impact on the presidency" of the EU which the country holds, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek assured yesterday.

"We have a case where the (opposition) social democrats are obstructing the Czech Republic. It's a problem seen many times in the course of this presidency," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"But don't be concerned, the situation will have no impact on the presidency," he added.

Mr Topolanek's fragile centre-right government was toppled by a vote of no confidence in the Czech Parliament on Tuesday.

The country assumed the EU's rotating presidency for six months in January.

"What's sad is that the opposition social democrats have tried to undermine the (Czech EU) presidency, but I hope that even so this presidency will be a success," he told the assembled members of the European Parliament.

"What we are trying to do is to animate the debate and arrive at compromises. I hope that when we come to the last European summit (in Brussels) we will be an example," he added.

Parliamentary President Hans-Gert Poettering echoed that the fall of the Czech government "shouldn't influence the work of the (EU) presidency".

Another problem for Europe is the fact that the Czech Republic has not yet ratified the bloc's reforming Lisbon Treaty, which must be passed by all 27 member states before it can come into effect.

"We should encourage the presidency to follow the process of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty," he said.

EU Commission chief José Manuel Barroso, also attending the parliamentary debate, made no direct comment on the Czech political crisis, contenting himself with praising the work of the rotating presidency.

On Tuesday Mr Topolanek said he would offer his resignation on his return from Strasbourg.

The government could stay in place in a caretaker capacity until the end of its EU presidency term at the end of June.