Czech's hesitant on Lisbon Treaty.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said that he was adamant the Irish voters will reject the European Union's Lisbon treaty. That would mean that as a fierce Euro sceptic he would not have to sign the reform pact.

The upper and lower houses of Czech parliament have approved the treaty but the Czech President has been hesitant to sign it. French President Sarkozy warned of Klaus' footdragging last week.

Heading the Czech delegation in the UN General Assembly in New York, Václav Klaus is spoke to international reporters about the Lisbon agreement. When asked how long he planned to wait, he gave a somewhat unclear answer.

"I don't have anything to say about that but I think the Lisbon agreement will be rejected by the Irish referendum, so I'm not worried about it. You shouldn't worry about it either," he told the journalists.

Klaus then declined to say what he would do if Irish voters approved the Lisbon treaty. Moreover, some Czech senators are poised to file a complaint with the Constitutional Court. That could mean further delay.

The the 27-member bloc was plunged into disarray last year when the Irish said No to the treaty. If the Lisbon treaty fails to win the backing of Irish voters again, it could kill the pact.

German President Horst Koehler signed the treaty on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that British Conservative Party leader David Cameron sent a letter to Klaus assuring him that the Conservatives would call a referendum on the Lisbon treaty after their expected election victory if Klaus delayed its signing on behalf of Prague.

German government to buy Embassy in Prague

The German embassy in Prague, a haven for East Germans during the final weeks of the Communist regime, may be bought by the country’s government.

Palais Lobkowicz, owned by the Czech government, may be swapped for a property in Berlin, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said today. The embassy has been “an important part of our history” since thousands of East Germans camped out on the grounds in 1989 seeking passage to West Germany, he said.

The German and Czech governments will discuss the transaction when the building has been appraised, Ploetner said. The property swap may involve the Czech government taking ownership of the former U.S. Embassy in Berlin, which is now empty, he said.

On Sept. 30, 1989, West German Foreign Minister Hans- Dietrich Genscher announced from the embassy’s balcony to thousands of East Germans that their communist government was letting them go to the West. Less than two months later, the Berlin Wall fell.

The embassy is in Prague’s Mala Strana district, one of the city’s best-preserved and most expensive locations. The U.S. embassy is about 200 meters (219 yards) away.

Starbucks eyes Czech Republic, Poland

Starbucks Corp. plans to at least double the number of outlets in the Czech Republic and Poland in five years as those countries recover from the economic slowdown.

“The market is still fresh and not crowded as in Western Europe,” Vladan Armus, the company’s brand president for Central and Eastern Europe, said Tuesday in an interview at a Prague Starbucks. “We can probably expand rapidly in the region for the next 10 years.”

Coffee chains are looking for opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe and Brazil as the economic crisis stalls growth in developed markets.