Czech President Vaclav Klaus has proposed that Prime Minister Jan Fischer, whose cabinet has a task of completing the Czech Republic’s presidency of the European Union, chairs the bloc’s June summit, the president’s office said. “The president has full faith in the prime minister and does not doubt that he will effortlessly master this role,” his office said in a statement after Klaus met on the issue with Fischer and Foreign Minister Jan Kohout. Officials in Brussels feared that Klaus, an outspoken critic of the EU and further European integration, would head the quarterly decision- making meeting of EU leaders.

The summit is planned to work on reviving the bloc’s stalled Lisbon Treaty, a reform pact that would overhaul EU institutions if adopted by all 27 member states. Klaus opposes the accord as a bad deal for his country and a threat to its sovereignty. The treaty has been in limbo since June 2008 when Irish voters rejected it in a referendum. In June, EU leaders plan to make a deal with Ireland on conditions for a new vote that they hope would bring the pact back to life. Klaus has expanded his role in the EU presidency since the previous Czech government of former premier Mirek Topolanek collapsed halfway through the country’s EU presidency ending June 30.

Klaus, whom the Topolanek cabinet only asked to chair an EU summit with Russia, already led a high-level meeting with Japan. He is also planned to preside over summits with China on May 20 and South Korea on May 23. The Fischer-led interim cabinet, which is to conclude the EU term and govern until early polls in mid-October, replaced Topolanek’s government.