French president Nicolas Sarkozy said on June 19 2008 that given Ireland's rejection to ratify European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the bloc should stop admitting further members, Reuters reported.

“No Lisbon, no enlargement,” the agency quoted Sarkozy as saying. “I would find it very strange for a Europe of 27 [countries] that has trouble agreeing on workable institutions to agree on adding a 28th, a 29th, a 30th, a 31st, which would definitely make things worse,” he added.

The statement was made after the end of the first day of the June 19-20 European Council session in Brussels. The main topic for discussion of the heads of state and government gathered for a two-day summit in the Belgian capital was the Irish “no” vote at a referendum held on June 12 to ask citizens whether Ireland should ratify the treaty or not.

The Lisbon Treaty was adopted in December 2007 as a means to reform the European institutions so as to make them function more efficiently following the bloc's enlargement by twelve new members since 2004. In order for the treaty to become effective, however, it has to be ratified by all 27 member states.

Janez Jansa, prime minister of Slovenia, EU's current presiding state that will pass on the presidency to France in ten days, however, said the enlargement should not suffer from the current crisis.

“I don't think there is any reason for those candidate countries which have been fulfilling the rules and have been negotiating for accession should slow down the process,” Jansa said, as quoted by Reuters. “I don't see any reason why we should focus on enlargement issue here. This should not be a victim.”

At present Croatia and Turkey are holding accession talks with the bloc, and a number of Western Balkans states are destined to start theirs in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, following a conference of the Party of European Socialists (PES) leaders on June 19, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told Bulgarian media in Brussels the result of the Irish referendum was not favourable either for the EU or for the further ratification process, the Government's press service said in a statement.

It is a common position of PES leaders that the treaty ratification process should continue as the document gives a new perspective, a new efficiency, transparency and democratism to the EU. Bulgaria has always supported the Lisbon Treaty, Stanishev said.