Sixty-one years ago, political opinions in Prague held no sway in Europe’s councils. Rather than getting into a fight with Nazi Germany which wanted the German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia, the British prime minister of the day, Neville Chamberlain, wiped his hands of the matter, famously calling it “a small nation ... far away … of which we know nothing.”

That is not the case today. Tuesday’s court decision in Prague that the EU’s Lisbon Treaty is not in conflict with the Czech constitution was awaited in 26 other European capitals almost with baited breath. As the last member of the EU to sign, the Czechs were holding up what will be momentous developments within the Union. Following the court ruling, an unwilling Czech President Vaclav Klaus has finally signed the treaty. With it, a new EU constitution comes into effect. Ironically, the Czech delay was directly linked to the country’s betrayal 61 years ago. After the World War II, Czechoslovakia expelled its three million Germans who had been the excuse for Hitler invading and seizing the country. The Czechs today wanted assurances that those who were expelled or their descendants would not be able to reclaim their former property. They have been given them by the EU although almost certainly the promises would be deemed unconstitutional in court. They go against the EU’s fundamental principle that the citizens of all member states are equal throughout EU territory. There can be no discrimination based on nationality.

The changes that the Lisbon Treaty will introduce probably sound technical to the layman, such as alterations to countries’ voting rights. But they presage a shift that is on par with that which occurred in the US in the 19th century when what had been a union of states in which the center was the glue holding them together morphed into single political entity in which the states were dominated by the center. A federal Europe with a federal government at its head is in the making. There will be a president and a foreign minister. A foreign minister inevitably means a foreign policy and a president is bound to appoint advisers on this and that who will inevitably become the nucleus of a Cabinet.

Not all Europeans will be pleased with this development. It is an issue that divides the UK’s Conservative Party for example, although they are by no means alone in not wanting a federal Europe. But there is little they can do about it now. They will almost certainly be in government by summer next year, but the new constitution will be up and running by then and it would take years to try and renegotiate it. The chances of success would be negligible. European political unity is not going to be derailed.

For the Arab world, there is much to learn. There has been so much talk over the years about Arab unity. But it is always that — just talk. There has to be action. Without it, what chance is there of the Arab voice being taken seriously on the world stage? What chance is there of Arab demands on Palestine and other issues being met? The only way of ensuring that happens is through political unity. But there is not even an Arab common market as of yet, let alone something as advanced as the European Union. The Arab on the street yearns for Arab unity. The latest stage in Europe’s evolution puts us to shame.