Post-war events intrude upon EU summit

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Europe's bloody past hung over EU leaders as they gathered in Brussels to finally try and bring a conclusion to the Lisbon Treaty soap opera, with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary locked in a tussle over how to word an eleventh-hour exemption from a rights charter contained in the document.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus started the divisive process of looking back into the Europe's near history earlier this month when, in a surprise move, he made obtaining an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights a condition for signing the Lisbon Treaty - his signature is needed for the new institutional rules to go into place across the entire EU.

Mr Klaus said he feared the charter would expose the country to property claims by ethnic Germans and Hungarians expelled after World War II from the then Czechoslovakia, under the so-called Benes Decrees.

The reference to the still-emotive issue prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity on the part of the Swedish EU presidency, which is trying to accommodate Prague so that the the Lisbon Treaty can finally be put into place.

But just as Prague appeared to say it was happy with the proposal put forward by the Swedes, the Slovaks entered the fray to say that they wanted an opt-out too, fearing a legal imbalance between the two countries. They believed that any reference to the Benes Decrees and an exemption would then imply that the charter does allow recourse to property claims, but leaving them without the shield against legal actions that their Czech neighbour would have one. The two countries separated peacefully from one another in 1993 but Slovakia was also covered by the Benes Decrees at the time.

Following pressure from the opposition and trade unions who very much support the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has since backed away from calling for an opt-out but is now looking for a political declaration on the issue.

"It could be a phrase citing the charter or in the EU treaty. We don't want any exemption, we want only interpretation. So, if it is true that there is no reason to be concerned [over the Benes Decrees] then let's clearly state it in the conclusions. This is our current political position," said Mr Fico.

Hungary, however, has upped the stakes, saying that it has strong reservations about the whole issue.

"We have serious concerns about what is going on today," Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said. "We consider the proposed opt-out to be very dangerous and we will argue against it."

Hungary believes that granting the Czech Republic an exemption from the charter on these grounds would effectively remove the Benes Decrees from the scope of European law, including eventual recourse to the European Court of Justice.

Mr Bajnai is also been squeezed by the opposition, the right-wing Fidesz party, who are expected to come into power after the country's elections next May. The party, which may by then hold a majority in parliament, has said it will not ratify any future protocol that includes a Czech opt out from the charter.

The Swedish EU presidency now has to untangle this legal, political and emotional knot. Ahead of the summit, Fredrik Reinfeldt, who has been smothered in institutional issues since taking over at the helm of the EU in July, said it would be "very difficult."

The negotiations come even though most analysts agree the charter would not expose the Czech Republic to the property claims Mr Klaus says he fears.