The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, may face impeachment if he does not sign the Lisbon Treaty according to The Economist's Charlemagne.
"Well-informed types in Prague suggest the most effective pressure on him is the threat of being impeached for failing to perform his duties as president. Meanwhile, as first announced last week, a fresh legal challenge to Lisbon has been lodged by a group of senators close to Mr Klaus with the Czech Constitutional Court. The challenge seems doomed, but it could drag things out for a few more months. For some reason, the film Groundhog Day comes to mind."
If, as seems likely, Ireland accepts Lisbon on Friday, Klaus will be the last, best hope of stopping Lisbon being ratified before the Conservatives come (we hope) to power. We recently reported that David Cameron may have lobbied him to hold back from signing.
Over the next few months he may become the most hated leader in Europe by fellow EU politicians but a hero of all Eurosceptics.
Speaking to LBC earlier today David Cameron pledged that the Tories want to remain in the EU, want a referebdum on Lisbon but that "new circumstances will apply" if Lisbon is ratified (quoted by The Telegraph):
"If this treaty is still alive, if it is still being discussed and debated anywhere in Europe, then we will give you that referendum, we will name the date during the election campaign, we'll hold that referendum straight away and I will lead the campaign for a No. Now, if those circumstances change, if the Germans ratify, if the Poles ratify, if the Czechs ratify, if the Irish vote Yes to the treaty, then a new set of circumstances [apply], and I will address those at the time... I want us to be in the European Union. We are a trading nation, we should be co-operating with our allies and friends in Europe over things like the environment and crime, of course we should."