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Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy appointed first EU President | Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been elected
as the first President of the European Union, while Britain's European Trade Commissioner, Baroness Ashton, is the new foreign minister of the council. Poet-economist Van
Rompuy is almost unknown outside Belgium. A staunch advocate of European integration,
he has backed policies including a European-wide tax on all financial transactions
to fund EU work, The Telegraph reports. Baroness Ashton is a former health authority
chairwoman who became a Labour peer in 1999. She held a string of low-key ministerial
posts until last year when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent her to Brussels
as an interim replacement for Lord Mandelson on his return to the Cabinet. The
unexpected duo emerged after Brown dashed Tony Blair's hopes of becoming president
by abandoning his support for his successor and proposing Baroness Ashton for
the foreign job instead. Brown had publicly campaigned for Blair to take the presidency,
but switched positions after European socialist leaders made clear they would
not support Blair. "As it became clear that the chances of a Blair presidency
were declining, the Prime Minister made a decisive intervention and nominated
Baroness Ashton," Downing Street sources said. Brown's switch also surprised European
leaders because of Baroness Ashton's lack of diplomatic experience. "She would
be a first rate disaster," said Peter Ludlow, of the European Strategy Forum,
a Brussels think-tank. French diplomatic sources questioned Britain's seriousness
over proposing Baroness Ashton for Europe's most senior foreign affairs post.
"We think it is a British trick to point at Ashton while really preparing the
ground for someone or something else. She has little experience and is a bizarre
choice. It would be a sign that European diplomacy is downgraded to an economic
policy post," said a French official. |
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