The Czech president, Václav Klaus, has warned that the EU is going through the gravest crisis in its history, following the adoption of the Lisbon treaty. In a written address to a eurosceptic party convention in Prague on Saturday, Mr Klaus said he believed civic and economic freedom in the European Union is at risk, as the bloc was adopting ever stronger regulatory measures under the pretence of combating the economic crisis. Mr Klaus also criticized the effects of what he calls “climate alarmism”.

President Václav Klaus is a staunch critic of further European integration. In 2003, he signed the Czech Republic’s accession treaty to the EU. However, he fiercely opposed the reform Lisbon treaty, which he eventually ratified last November as the last head of state of the bloc.