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EU is not pressuring Czechs to sign treaty

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A trip by the European Parliament president to the Czech Republic is not meant to pressure Czech President Vaclav Klaus on the Lisbon Treaty, officials said.

Jerzy Buzek will visit the Czech Republic Friday to discuss the ratification of the treaty with Prime Minister Jan Fischer and Chamber of Deputies Chairman Miloslav Vlcek, the Czech News Agency reported.

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Buzek said Saturday Klaus should not be pressured over the Lisbon pact. He said ratification is a democratic process which the Czechs can delay if they choose.

"The visit (by Buzek) has been planned for long and it is not connected with some pressure on the Lisbon treaty's ratification," Roman Prorok, a spokesman for Fischer said.

Klaus has not signed the treaty even though both houses of parliament passed it. He is waiting for the Constitutional Court to decide if the treaty complies with the constitutional order. A group of senators charges it does not.

Some EU representatives want the treaty ratified by the end of October, in time for the EU summit.

Among other things, the Lisbon Treaty makes the EU human rights charter, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding.

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