(PRAGUE) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday backed his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski's declaration that he will not sign the EU's troubled Lisbon Treaty.

Klaus "very attentively" read the Polish newspaper interview in which Kaczynski declared that he would not sign the treaty because it was pointless following the Irish referendum rejection, Klaus' spokesman, Radim Ochvat, told AFP.

"He regards his (Kaczynski's) opinion over the Lisbon Treaty as very reasonable and very close to his own," Ochvat added.

The Czech head of state, a eurosceptic, declared after the Irish result that he regarded the treaty as "finished" but has not gone as far as saying he would not sign it.

Kaczynski's comments come as France attempts to resolve the stalled treaty's institutional reform as it begins its six-month EU presidency.

Czech minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra, told AFP that he viewed Kaczynski's statement as "tactical" and made within the context of internal Polish discussions, adding that for this reason he did not see any reason to comment further.

Some EU countries are keen to push on quickly with ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, but the Czech Republic is a notable exception. A strong faction within the senior ruling party, the Civic Democrats, share Klaus' view that the Lisbon Treaty should not be revived or proceeded with.

EU leaders were forced to accommodate Prague's reservations in the final declaration issued at their June summit in Brussels.

Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is currently stalled in the Czech Republic while its highest court examines whether it is in conformity with the country's constitution.

The Civic Democrats have an overall majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, and could exercise their power to block ratification of the EU's reforming treaty there, say some political analysts.

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