EU-DIGEST

Labels: Britain, EU, Iraq, Tony Blair

That assurance was given at a time when Blair was publicly pushing the U.N. to force Saddam into compliance. Campbell denied any lack of sincerity in the efforts to secure a solution through the U.N.

Labels: Britain, EU, Iraq war, Tony Blair

Tony Blair and his allies will launch a last-ditch bid this week to crown him European president. His friends are urging him to speak directly to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to persuade them he is the man for the job. Sweden, which holds the presidency of the EU, has said that it will now begin consulting intensively about names to hold the post created by the Lisbon Treaty. Downing Street sources said Gordon Brown would be 'hitting the phones and speaking to member states' to campaign for Mr Blair. 'We want to build a consensus around the best names,' said one. The former prime minister's fate is expected to be sealed at a special summit, possibly on November 12.

Labels: Britain, EU Presidency, Tony Blair

Labels: Angela Merkel, EU, Nicolas Sarkozy, Tony Blair

Czech president Vaclav Klaus backs EU Lisbon Treaty

Czech President Vaclav Klaus is satisfied with a declaration by European Union leaders intended to pave the way to ratification of the bloc's Lisbon treaty, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said on Thursday. Efforts to get the new treaty past the final roadblock coincided with stepped-up lobbying for the post of president, with several new candidates coming forward to challenge former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. Leading politicians of the European left appeared to have dealt a fatal blow to Tony Blair’s chances of becoming the first permanent president of the European Union, after Spanish Premier José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Socialist bloc wants the new position of EU Foreign Minister. The next step on the eight-year path toward the overhaul of the EU’s decision-making machinery is a ruling due next week by the Czech supreme court, which has already backed the treaty once.

Labels: Czech Republic, EU, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Lisbon Treaty, Tony Blair, Vaclav Klaus

Blair not acceptable - The EU prepares for a Conservative government - by David Blackburn

The wheels seem to have come off Tony Blair’s EU presidency campaign. Like one commentator said: "Blair was able to do so much damage in Britain precisely because he was a popular figure on the world stage. Regardless of how much the British detests the EU, That's no reason to inflict him on the European people".

Labels: EU, Tony Blair

Blair backed as Europe's president

Europe minister Glenys Kinnock has reinforced speculation that Tony Blair wants to be Europe's first president. She said the entire British Government fully supported Mr Blair's "candidature" although the former prime minister has refused to confirm that he is bidding for the post. There is no official list of contenders for a new Euro-job which will only exist if the Lisbon treaty is fully approved and ratified by all EU countries.

Note EU-Digest: Apart from Britain and probably a few other countries in the EU, there is no wide spread support for Mr. Blair's candidature among other EU member states.

Labels: EU, Tony Blair

For the complete report from TIME click on this link

Tony Blair's Leap of Faith - by Michael Elliot

On May 30 in New York, Blair, 55, formally unveiled The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which, among other things, is dedicated to proving that collaboration among those of different religious faiths can help address some of the world's most pressing social problems."Faith is part of our future," Blair says, "and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalization work." For Blair, the goal is to rescue faith from the twin challenges of irrelevance—the idea that religion is no more than an interesting aspect of history—and extremism. Blair and those working with him think religion is key to the global agenda.

"You can't hope to understand what's happening in the world if you don't know that religion is a very important force in people's lives," says Ruth Turner, 37, formerly a top aide to Blair in 10 Downing Street, who will head the foundation. "You can't make the world work properly unless you understand that, while not everyone will believe in God or have a spiritual life, a lot of people will." Blair, she says, has been thinking about these issues "for decades and decades and decades." Over time, says Blair of the foundation's work, "this is how I want to spend the rest of my life."

Labels: Britain, EU, Middle East, Religion, Tony Blair

Scotland - Salmond Out To Block Blair From Eu Presidency - by Paul Hutcheon

First Minister Alex Salmond of Scotland wants Tony Blair to be blocked from becoming the first president of the European Union.The SNP leader says the former prime minister should be "disqualified" from the post because of his staunch support for the Iraq war. He also said he hoped Scotland would become independent as quickly as possible so he could veto Blair's candidacy himself. The post of EU president is likely to be created as a result of the Lisbon treaty being agreed by the union's member states. Blair, who stood down as prime minister last year, has been touted as a potential candidate by allies and is known to have the support of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. However, the former Labor leader also is not thought to have the backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel - and the first minister made it clear he will have no support from Edinburgh. Salmond said: "I'm hoping Scotland will proceed to independence quick enough to have a vote so that we can vote against him. I think Tony Blair would be a deeply controversial figure to be EU president." He added: "I think he's disqualified his candidacy because of one word, and that word is Iraq."

Labels: EU, Salmond, Scotland, Tony Blair

Sarkozy and Mandelson 'strike a deal to get top EU job for Blair' - Simon Walters

Nicolas Sarkozy is backing Tony Blair's campaign to become the first President of Europe in return for the way Peter Mandelson secretly helped him win the French Presidency, it was claimed last night. The suggestion of a secret EU Presidency deal between the three men will enrage Gordon Brown, who has always blamed Mr Mandelson for the way Mr Blair pipped him to the post of Labour leader in 1994. A senior member of Mr Sarkozy's inner circle claims the French President regards his support for Mr Blair's bid to become Europe's first fully fledged political leader as a "quid pro quo" for EU Commissioner Mr Mandelson's help in winning last year's election.

Note EU-Digest: Please spare us Europeans to get Tony Blair, George Bush his loyal friend and co-conspirator of the Iraq war disaster, as our EU president. A better suggestion would be that instead of Blair coming to Europe, Sarkozy should go and live in Britain. France and Europe would probably be greatly relieved. As to the British, lets face it, they don't feel part of the EU anyway. They only want to enjoy the benefits without any commitments on their side. With friends like this who needs enemies.

Labels: EU, Mandelson, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

Tony Blair I'll be president of Europe if you give me the power - Patrick Wintour

Tony Blair has been holding discussions with some of his oldest allies on how he could mount a campaign later this year to become full-time president of the EU council, the prestigious new job characterised as "president of Europe". Blair, currently the Middle East envoy for the US, Russia, EU and the UN, has told friends he has made no final decision, but is increasingly willing to put himself forward for the job if it comes with real powers to intervene in defence and trade affairs.

Labels: EU, Tony Blair

Speculation Grows Over Blair's Ambitions for EU President

Even before the Lisbon Treaty was signed, speculation was rife as to who would be the first European president as proposed in the new document. Now it is signed and sealed, one man heads the list of potential candidates. The role, outlined in the treaty signed by the 27 member states at the end of last year, will replace the current system whereby each country assumes the rotating presidency for six months. The job, a two-and-a-half-year term, will be up for grabs in 2009 if the bloc's 27 member states can keep to their timetable and individually ratify the treaty over the next year. It now appears that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken an early lead in the speculative stakes after he jetted into Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party in Paris on Saturday.

Sarkozy has made no secret of his admiration for Blair and was the first and most vocal advocate of his potential presidency. "He is a very remarkable man. He is the most European of Britons ... it would be intelligent to think of him," Sarkozy said last year.

Note EU-Digest: Let us hope the EU will be able to have a universal vote with several candidates on who they want to have as their President and that we do not get a President shoved into our shoes. The whole of the EU needs to make the choice for a President not Mr. Sarkozy.

Labels: EU, Power Politics, President, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

Call for Scotland to try Blair as 'war criminal' - by Ian Swanson

Lord Advocate was today urged to prosecute Tony Blair as a war criminal for the invasion of Iraq. Former MP Jim Sillars said he had written to Elish Angiolini with a 10,000-word document setting out a formal complaint against the Prime Minister. And he said Scots law allowed Mr Blair to be put on trial despite such a move being ruled out south of the Border.

Labels: Iraq. War, Tony Blair

Labels: EU, Tony Blair

So is the world a better place after the G8 summit? The answer might surprise you - by Geoffrey Lean and Raymond Whitaker

When George Bush first met Angela Merkel, shortly after she became the Chancellor of Germany 18 months ago, he thought he had finally found a friend from "Old Europe". Believing - like British ministers at the time - that the right-wing former East German would be far less interested in the environment than the red-green government she had toppled - he patronizingly suggested that they could forget the Kyoto protocol.

"Mr President, you are mistaken," Mrs Merkel announced, drawing herself up to her full 5ft 8in. "I am one of those responsible for the protocol." And she told him how, as her country's environment minister, she had chaired the meeting that had made the crucial breakthrough on the road to Kyoto, and then led its negotiating team when the treaty was agreed.

Labels: Bush, G8, Merkel, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

World Bank: Bush wants US citizen for World Bank; Blair out of the race?

President George W. Bush said this week he wants a United States citizen to succeed Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank, playing down speculation he might turn to departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the job.“We’d very much like it to be an American” Bush said in an interview. He said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is in charge of the search for Wolfowitz’s successor and will take to Bush a list of those he thinks would be good for the job. Asked if his close ally Blair might be a candidate, Bush said: “I haven’t talked to Tony Blair about it, but I do think it’d be good to have a US citizen run the bank.”

Labels: George Bush, Tony Blair, World Bank

"Failure at the OK Corral" - Final act looms for the 'George and Tony show' - by Jitendra Joshi

US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were Thursday to bring the Washington curtain down on one of the most controversial double-acts in global affairs.

Labels: George Bush, Iraq. War, Tony Blair

Tony Blair new President World Bank?

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz may finally be removed from his job over the way he handled a salary increase involving his girlfriend, once a Bank employee. Since the bank's top job normally goes to an American, some European nations are expected to argue quietly that in exchange for Mr. Wolfowitz leaving, President George Bush be offered a compromise: The presidency could go to a non-American for the first time, but one he probably could live with -- departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Adrian Wooldridge, the Washington bureau chief of the Economist magazine, says he has heard a lot of rumors about Mr. Blair's interest in the job and his departure as prime minister in late June would make the timing for a transfer just about perfect.

Mr. Blair is scheduled to arrive in Washington this Wednesday for talks with Mr. Bush. If the World Bank's governing board comes out with an expression of no confidence in Mr. Wolfowitz, the World Bank post could become a subject on the agenda of the Iraq duo?

Labels: Tony Blair, World Bank

Blair steps down: Sorry for the times I let you down

Mr Blair, mindful of the shadow of Iraq over his legacy, devoted one of the most passionate sections of his speech to explaining that he ordered military action from a sincere conviction that it was necessary.

He admitted the "blowback since has been fierce, and unrelenting and costly," adding: "For many it simply is not and cannot be worth it.

Labels: Britain, Tony Blair

Rosie: Captured Brits a hoax to provoke war

In yet another provocative claim, TV host Rosie O'Donnell implied yesterday the Iranian seizure of British sailors was a hoax to provide President Bush with an excuse to go to war with Tehran. In a discussion about the 15 British personnel seized Friday for allegedly entering Iranian waters, the controversial co-host of ABC's "The View" correlated the event to the Gulf of Tonkin incident that propelled the U.S. into the Vietnam War. President Johnson's administration was accused of provoking one incident in 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin and making up another as a pretext for war.

O'Donnell, according to the media watchdog Newsbusters, said: "But interesting with the British sailors, there were 15 British sailors and Marines who apparently went into Iranian waters and they were seized by the Iranians. And I have one thing to say: Gulf of Tonkin, Google it. Okay."

Labels: Britain, Bush, Iran, Tony Blair, US, War