Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic - Neither Croatia, nor any other applicant country, will be able to join the European Union unless the bloc's reforming Lisbon Treaty is ratified, officials from France and Germany said Saturday.

"There will be no enlargement if there is no Lisbon Treaty," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic.

That position was echoed by German foreign ministry officials, who said: "We will not be in a position to accept new member states in the EU without the Lisbon Treaty."

The German officials said their opposition to further enlargement would also apply to Croatia, which is hoping to end its membership talks this year and become the EU's 28th member state soon afterwards.

The Lisbon Treaty is designed to improve the bloc's decision- making process, taking into account its 2004 and 2007 "Big Bang" enlargements, which saw a total of 12 new countries join in two phases.

However, its coming into force has been blocked by an Irish no in a referendum and by this week's collapse of the Czech government, which still has to complete the ratification process.

Saturday's comments by top diplomats from France and Germany, while not new, were all the more significant as they came during a meeting of EU foreign ministers with seven aspiring members from the Western Balkans, including Croatia and Serbia. (dpa)