French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would listen to Irish objections to the EU reform treaty when he visits Dublin next week but that the view of the 23 countries that have adopted the treaty could not be overlooked.
Ireland threw the 27-nation bloc into a crisis by voting against the Lisbon treaty in a referendum last month.
"I was one of the first European leaders to say publicly that the democratic decision of the Irish people had to be respected," Sarkozy said, according to the French text of an interview with the Irish Times on Saturday issued by his office.
"But the democratic choice of the 23 states which have decided to ratify the treaty has to be respected as well."
Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union's rotating six-month presidency, will visit Dublin on July 21.
He faces a sceptical reception after telling French parliamentarians during a closed-door meeting this week that "the Irish will have to vote again" on a treaty that must be ratified by every member state before it can come into force.
Sarkozy's comments, relayed by lawmakers, were reported to have sparked "quiet fury" within the Irish government and strong criticism from opponents of the treaty indignant at what they saw as outside interference.
Ireland's Labour Party, which backed the treaty and is the third biggest party in parliament, has turned down a meeting with Sarkozy.
The idea that Sarkozy could "persuade us to change our mind or try to hear what we have to say and give us all three minutes each, I think there is a little degree of arrogance in that," Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told public broadcaster RTE.
The Lisbon treaty, aimed at overhauling EU decision-making processes, was drawn up to end the crisis caused when a slightly broader treaty was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
A majority of EU members has ratified the treaty and several more are close, and Sarkozy said he did not believe lengthy treaty negotiations could be restarted.
"What is most important is to bring real answers to the worries of the Irish. That's why I am coming to Dublin, to listen and understand," he told the newspaper.
"We've been debating institutional questions for more than 10 years. They've been examined in the smallest detail. It's time to move on," he said.
"I don't think Ireland's 26 partners are ready to start a new intergovernmental conference. I also don't think that's what European citizens expect."
He said the only alternative to the Lisbon treaty was to stay with the much-criticised Nice treaty, which would hold up further enlargement of the bloc.
"My hope is that we can all reach a solution together which will allow the European family to remain together. As for a multi-speed Europe, it's not what I would want, it could only be envisaged as a last hypothesis," he said.
