Czech president Vaclav Klaus today welcomed a proposal by the European Union presidency for removing his objections to signing the Lisbon Treaty, increasing the chances of it going into force.
The Czech Republic is the only EU member state which has not yet ratified the treaty.
Mr Klaus has demanded an opt-out from a charter of fundamental rights that is attached to the treaty, saying he wants to shield the Czech Republic from property claims from ethnic Germans who were expelled after the second World War.
The Czech government has been negotiating his demands with Sweden, which holds the EU's presidency until the end of the year, and wants to secure approval for the opt-out at an EU summit in Brussels next week.
"The president ... received the Swedish presidency's proposal which is a response to his request related to the Lisbon Treaty ratification in the Czech Republic," Mr Klaus's office said in a statement. "This proposal corresponds to what the president has envisioned and it is possible to work with it further."
Mr Klaus's office did not say what the proposal was.
The Swedish EU presidency did not immediately comment on MR Klaus's remarks. The European Commission, the EU executive, declined immediate comment.
Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fuele told a parliamentary committee the Czechs Republic wanted to be added to the list of countries that have an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The list includes Britain and Poland.
The form the Czechs are seeking for their opt-out would not require new ratification of the treaty by all member states, he e said.
Ratification by the Czech Republic also depends on a review by the country's Constitutional Court, which is widely expected to approve it, possibly next week.
Many European politicians say Mr Klaus's actions amount to delaying tactics over the treaty, which has been approved by the Czech parliament. Mr Klaus says the treaty is a step towards a European superstate that would take away national sovereignty.