Sarkozy: Irish Don’t Count, Poles and Czechs Will Be Punished If They Don’t Behave
From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2008-07-02 20:25
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3385A quote from Bruno Waterfield at his Telegraph blog, 2 July 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, held a strictly off-the-record lunch briefing for international Brussels-based correspondents on Tuesday at the Elysée. The Daily Telegraph was not invited, in fact deliberately excluded. […] But despite the best efforts of the Quai d'Orsay's diplomats, I am able to reveal on-the-record, as a blog exclusive, Mr Sarkozy's more relevant comments.
The French strategy during their six month EU Presidency, which began on July 1, is to isolate Ireland after last month's referendum rejection of the Lisbon European Union Treaty.
With the Irish people in quarantine, the other 26 EU countries will press ahead with ratifying the Treaty – 19 have done so. […] The Irish do not count. […] The Irish either will be asked to vote again, in a rerun of Ireland's second referendum on the Nice Treaty in 2002 – or Ireland's people will be bypassed. "If the perspective of a second vote in Ireland has been raised it is because it has happened before," said Mr Sarkozy. […]
Mr Sarkozy made it clear he was deeply unimpressed with Polish President Lech Kaczynski's refusal to sign off a "pointless" Treaty after it had been ratified in his country's parliament. […] The French President warned the Czechs that they would pay a price if Prague continues to grumble about ratifying the Treaty.
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