The last man resisting the European Union’s Lisbon treaty indicated yesterday that he was ready to relent, admitting that he could not stall long enough to give David Cameron the chance to call a British referendum.

Vaclav Klaus, 66, the Eurosceptic President of the Czech Republic, said that while he was personally against the treaty, it had become like an unstoppable train after being ratified in all 26 other EU countries.

The President confirmed that Mr Cameron had suggested to him that he hold out until the next British election because, if the Conservatives won, they would put the treaty to a referendum with the intention of sinking it.

But Mr Klaus, who has demanded an opt-out on human rights as the price of his signature, has been put under huge pressure by EU leaders led by Nicolas Sarkozy to sign the agreement since its approval at the re-run Irish referendum this month.

Asked by a Czech newspaper if British Conservatives were urging him to delay, Mr Klaus said: “It is true that I have next to me a personal letter written personally by Mr Cameron from July which is suggesting something like this, but I cannot wait until the British election and I will not. They will have to do them in the next days or weeks.”

The unpredictable Czech leader suggested that he was prepared to sign the treaty if EU leaders meeting in Brussels for their quarterly summit on October 29 agreed an opt-out for the Czech Republic from the Charter of Fundamental Rights and gave this the same legal force as a series of guarantees agreed for Ireland.

Seeking to explain the conflicting signals that had been coming from Mr Klaus and his advisers over his intentions during the past week, he said in his interview: “I do not consider the Lisbon treaty to be a good thing in Europe — for freedom in Europe and for the Czech Republic. However, the train is going too fast and has gone so far that it will not be possible to stop it or to send it back. Even though many of us would wish to do so. The ratification, when it’s all in place — it will not be the end of history.

“I have never said that my footnote would have to be ratified together with the whole Lisbon treaty by all member states. I also never said that something similar to the guarantees given to the Irish by the European Council would not be sufficient enough for me.”

The climbdown for Mr Klaus followed condemnation of his delays from his illustrious predecessor, the playwright Vaclav Havel, who last week called his behaviour irresponsible and wrong.

Mr Klaus may have been stung into action by a suggestion supported by Mr Havel that the Czech Constitutional Court should be asked to make a ruling on whether the President should remain legally competent to sign the treaty.

The Lisbon treaty creates the new jobs of European Union Foreign Minister and President of the European Council, for which Tony Blair is considered a leading candidate.

One of Mr Blair’s own former Europe advisers raised a question mark over his suitability for the job yesterday. Asked about the possibility of Mr Blair becoming EU president, Sir Stephen Wall said: “[That] is not necessarily a very good idea.”

Sir Stephen, who was Britain’s permanent representative to the EU between 1995 and 2000 before working as Mr Blair’s European adviser until 2004, acknowledged that his former boss “is seen as someone who counts and can articulate his vision”.

However he added: “The powers are very constrained. If the President of the United States did phone a President Tony Blair to ask for something, then Blair could only respond that he would ‘consult 27 governments and see what we can do’.”

The delays caused by Mr Klaus’s last-minute demands for an opt-out mean that the post of EU Foreign Minister and President are unlikely to be selected at next week’s summit. EU leaders are considering calling a special one-day summit in November to make these appointments.

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