Vaclav Klaus, the Eurosceptic Czech president, threw up yet another hurdle on Friday before ratifying the Lisbon treaty – a demand for an opt-out from the pact’s charter of rights and freedoms similar to that obtained earlier by Britain and Poland.

“Before the ratification, the Czech Republic must at least . . . negotiate a similar exemption,” Mr Klaus said, explaining that the opt-out is needed to prevent the heirs of the millions of Sudeten Germans expelled after the second world war from filing land claims to regain their confiscated property.