Blair looms large in running for EU president
By Tony Barber in Brussels
Published: October 5 2009 20:09 | Last updated: October 5 2009 20:09
Tony Blair, former
According to EU diplomats and officials, Mr Blair is far from assured of the job, not least because he cannot yet count on the support of Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, or the leaders of several smaller EU countries.
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But Mr Blair is increasingly looking like the frontrunner in a race in which no one, officially, is a candidate. “Blair is the name out there,” said one diplomat.
Choosing a president has never seemed so urgent after an Irish referendum last week in which voters approved overwhelmingly the bloc’s
But some diplomats in Brussels said the decision could come sooner if political and legal difficulties in the
Apart from Mr Blair, the most frequently mentioned names are those of Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister, and
Others, such as
Mr Blair’s strong card is that he is an articulate, firm-willed and experienced politician well known around the globe. This would stand him in good stead in meetings with
Moreover, Mr Blair has the backing of Nicolas Sarkozy, although diplomats say the
Mr Blair’s candidacy is vulnerable for several reasons. Some EU leaders remember his vigorous support for George W Bush, the former US president much reviled in Europe, in the Iraq invasion.
Some also think the president should not come from a country such as the UK, which has excluded itself from core EU initiatives such as European
Several small and medium-sized countries, never happy with the idea of a full-time president, do not want a figure from a “big” country such as France, Germany or the UK.
But the biggest problem for Mr Blair might be, quite simply, that his candidacy is being aired too openly, too soon. “Frontrunners in EU job hunts have a habit of fading before the finish line,” one diplomat said.