Czech Republic says Lisbon Treaty must not ruin Croatia's EU bid

(PRAGUE) - Czech deputy prime minister Alexandr Vondra gave his support to Croatia joining the European Union, saying Thursday he backed its accession "with or without the Lisbon Treaty."

"From our perspective, we can do it with or without the Lisbon Treaty, it is just a question of political will," he said during a meeting on European Union enlargement.

The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline EU institutions after recent eastward expansion and replace the failed constitution, suffered a major blow when Ireland rejected the text in June.

It was the only country in the 27-nation EU to hold a referendum, while the Czech Republic and Sweden are also yet to ratify the treaty.

France's ambassador to Prague, Charles Fries, refuted the Czech position, saying enlargement was not possible under the current Nice Treaty and Croatia's membership was dependent on its Lisbon replacement.

Meanwhile, the European commissioner for enlargement said the Irish No vote should not be allowed to affect the enlargement process.

"It should not be used as a scapegoat," said Olli Rehn. "We need the Lisbon Treaty to improve the functioning of Europe but we need it not to affect its popularity."

Earlier this month, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said his government backs Croatia's bid to complete EU accession talks before the end of Prague's turn as head of the EU presidency in mid-2009.

Croatia began EU membership negotiations in 2005 and is set to become the bloc's 28th member in 2010.

The EU's enlargement commission will publish its recommendations on November 5, ahead of an EU summit debate on the issue scheduled for December.