Although the Irish didn’t sign the Lisbon reform treaty, EU foreign ministers said that the treaty will remain valid. BBC reported that, in order for this treaty, which is meant to strengthen the bloc, to be implemented, all 27 EU members should approve it. The only state that didn’t agree was Ireland.

This country’s constitution requires that all new treaties to be approved through a referendum. The Irish voters were concerned that this treaty would come over national laws and would interfere with some of the sensitive issues like military neutrality or abortion, reported the Deutsche Welle.

The reaction of other EU members, especially Germany and France, was not very appropriate, said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. Juncker said that it didn’t matter that Ireland was not a big country and the Irish’s decision should be respected.

"We aren't going to overcome the crisis when we lecture the Irish or when we put them in the corner," said Juncker on Monday, according to the Deutsche Welle.

Apparently, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that this problem should be solved this year, suggesting the “Danish model” to be used. France and Germany suggested, despite the Irish rejection of the treaty, that the ratification should go forward.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that there were “no quick fix solutions” and it would take some time to find out what went wrong there. Also, British Foreign Minister David Miliband said that this was the time for Europe to “stick together” and to respect the Irish vote.

The opinions regarding the next move were divided, but most agreed that the solution would have to come from Ireland’s part and the EU executive has commissioned a survey in order to find out why the Irish rejected the Lisbon treaty.

The European Leaders would discuss the matter at the Brussels summit on Thursday and Friday.