European Union governments are increasingly confident that they will coax Vaclav Klaus, the recalcitrant Czech president, into signing the EU’s Lisbon treaty, but a deal is unlikely before leaders gather for a summit on Thursday and Friday, EU policymakers said on Monday.

“I wish this story could be over before the end of this week, but I don’t think it will be,” said one government official attending a pre-summit meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.