The incorrigible antics of Vaclav Klaus remind one of that other crafty Czech anti-hero, the Good Soldier Svejk. But whereas the fictional Svejk has put a smile on the faces of millions of readers since Jaroslav Hasek created him a century ago, today’s leaders of the European Union find nothing amusing about the real-life Czech president.

Mr Klaus is, for practical purposes, the last obstacle in the way of the Lisbon treaty, a charter of somewhat abstruse institutional reforms over which the EU has laboured for eight years. Negotiated and approved by all 27 EU governments, the treaty cannot take effect until Mr Klaus appends his presidential signature to the text.