Foreign Policy published a rather entertaining list of “European Idols” – aka (rumored) contenders in the race to become the first permanent “President of the European Council”:
The categories:
First, the president should be, well, boring — like Brussels itself. Politicians have knocked down candidates for being too controversial or too outspoken. Second, he should likely hold center-right or Christian Democratic political tendencies, given that Europe itself is headed that direction. Third, he should come from a country that uses the euro — showing full fealty to the concept of the union. Fourth, he should come from a small European country — anything other than Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, which normally dominate the union’s affairs. Finally, two wild-card characteristics: He should ideally speak French and have opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq — if not at the time, then soon afterward.
Read the article (with more less detailed profiles of each candidate) here. Obviously the list is debatable: For example, it seems strange to include Angela Merkel (not boring?) and Anders Fogh Rasmussen but not Mary Robinson… also candidates from the Iberian peninsula might might not be considered since Commission President Barroso is from Portugal, to a lesser extent that might also be true for Polish candidates (Buzek = President of the European Parliament). I was also wondering about the language skills of the contenders… (Most of them fluent in French? – And what about English ?). One important category is missing: The “I made the case for the EU while being in office” – category.
Oh, and sadly even the analysts (in this case: “assistant editor with a degree from Harvard”) of Foreign Policy fall into the trap of talking about a “EU President”…
8 Comments
It looks as a rushed job, with discrepancies between CVs and facts, and CVs and stars.
But the thought is entertaining.
Yes, I agree with you. Funny idea (especially the table) but the article seems not finished…
That can’t be true: Foreign Policy lists Jan Peter Balkenende, a staunch supporter of G W Bush’s wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan (the Netherlands still have troops in Afghanistan), as ‘anti-war’…
I would love to hear Balkenende’s French, but I fear it might be even worse than his embarrassing Dunglish
Nice, did not know about Dunglish – only about Denglish
I overlooked the Balkenende-Bush connection. Start wondering whether there is anything correct in this table…
Aznar was also very pro-War, together with Blair. Remember that summit on an island somewhere in the atlantic with Berlusconi there too?
Also Merkel is really boring and was anti-war, Lipponen is surely anti-war as a Finnish leftie, Blair is surely centre-right… so nice idea, but really wide of the mark.
Yes. Must have been in hurry to overlook the Aznar thing ….
I am from the Netherlands. And I know that Balkenende would be a very wrong choice.
In the Netherlands he has been absent in each and every crisis. Only when the opposition forces him to an opinion, he comes up with some kind of statement. He gives the impression of someone suffering from a clinical depression.
Beside this, he is a child! When he first met Bush jr., the former president of the USA, he behaved like a small boy that got a compliment of a headmaster. When he was patted on his shoulder by mister president, he was out of his wits from joy. In the Netherlands we made jokes about this, but we were extremely embarrassed. To please this Bush, he dragged us in an illegal war with Iraq. When the new coalition for his present government was formed, he demanded, that there would be no interrogation about this war. So we, the people, are not allowed to know what really let to this war.
A dutch soldier in Iraq fired his gun in the air during a riot. At that time an Iraqi male fell to the ground, apparently wounded or death, nobody knows. The same day an Iraqi male was buried. Maybe the same person, maybe another. The dutch soldier was arrested for murder by the dutch prosecutors office. Then there were endless trials against this soldier. In the end, each and every judge did acquit him from every charge and the dutch authorities had to pay him a great lot of money.
And now the big question. The Netherlands were in war with Iraq. During that war a soldier was attacked in the back by the dutch prosecutors office. Were was prime-minister Balkenende when this happened? This is of course a rhetorical question. He was were he is always when we need him: hiding in his tower, playing Harry Potter.
And now a question for the readers of this. And this question is NOT rhetorical.
Do you want such a person to be the leader of the European Union? Do you want Balkenende as your “president”?
I do not know if Blair would be a very good choice. But I have seen enough from Blair, that he would not abandon his own soldiers during a war that he himself choose for them. If you lead your soldiers into a war, you have to stand behind them, support them. As he was said:
“Backbone, not back down”.
Or in other words:
“Backbone, not back down, is what the European Union needs.”
There is no place in European government for a wimp and traitor like Balkenende. If his own soldiers can not rely on him, can we?
About Balkenende and the sick political culture in the Netherlands:
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But there is much more about Balkenende.
10/27 2005 there was a fire in a prison for persons seeking asylum. One asylum-seeker smoked a cigarette and the building burned down. 11 people burned to death, many were severely burned. The person who smoked a cigarette was prosecuted for murder and found guilty. But who was to blame? The fire brigade previously tried to close down the facility because it was a fire-hazard. The council of the town were it was located agreed and made a decision to close it down. This council decision then was overruled by the minister of justice, Piet Hein Donner. For this, he had to resign and new elections were held. In the next government Balkenende choose this same Donner as minister of social affairs.
It is quite easy to put all the blame on a person seeking asylum. He can not defend himself and it is easy to kick him around. But the truth is: Piet Hein Donner is guilty of 11 counts of burn-murder. He should be in jail. But in the Netherlands he is minister of Social Affairs. With many thanks to his associate Balkenende. By the way: In my political pages in dutch I would write mini-ster, but the joke is lost in English. I would have to write mini-star in English. That is how we consider them.
Murderous bunch
===========
Before the political leader of the right-wing opposition Pim Fortuyn was murdered, political leaders and several newspapers in the Netherlands compared him with Hitler and incited hatred against him. Melkert, leader of the PvdA (Dutch Labour party), and ‘de Volkskrant’ (a left-wing newspaper) were the most to blame. After Fortuyn was murdered, the establishment stated, that Volkert van der G. had murdered Fortuyn and that the murder-weapon was a handgun. Many people in the Netherlands feel, that Volkert van der G. (an unstable left-wing extremist) was the murder-weapon and that the establishment is responsible for murder in the first, premeditated murder.
After Fortuyn a dutch film-director Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Moslim. Van Gogh had humiliated the Islamic faith in his films, the murderer Mohammed B. had all reasons to feel provoked.
Now the sentencing:
Volkert van der G., a white left-wing extremist, who had not been provoked by his victim was sentenced to 18 years in prison. In the dutch system it means that he will be free after about 12 years.
Mohammed B, whose parents came from Morocco and who is a Muslim, had been severely provoked by his victim. He was sentenced for life. That means, that he will be in jail for more than 50 years, and that he will die in prison.
In my opinion, this is racism. Racism is against article 1 of the dutch constitution. So the sentence against Mohammed B. is illegal. In my opinion, Mohammed B. should have a new trial under German judges, who should apply the Dutch law. I don’t think this will ever happen.
Civil war in the Netherlands:
==================
After the murder on Pim Fortuyn we nearly had civil war.
At this moment we have a situation like Germany in 1932. Voters run away from the traditional parties and flee to extremists. On one hand, we have the Socialistic Party (a new breed of communists), on the other hand we have Geert Wilders. Wilders is extremely anti-Islamic, like Hitler was extremely anti-Semitic. I do not believe that Wilders is psychotic like Hitler, and the Netherlands is only a small country, unlike Germany. So we should not equal Hitler and Wilders.
There are two dangerous paths to the future:
1. Another left-wing extremist murders Wilders. In that case we will have civil war. Every person accused of left-wing extremism will have to run for his/her life.
2. In the next election the Socialist Party and Wilders will get so many votes, that it becomes impossible to form a government without both of them. In the most likely scenario, the Christian Democrats will support Wilders and make him prime-minister. Like the Christian Democrats in Germany 1933 supported Hitler.
In both scenarios the Netherlands is not a place to be. Not if you are a reasonable person. And certainly not if you are a Muslim.
Will I stay? In 2004 I moved to the extreme north-east of the Netherlands, at the German border. I plan emigration in the next two years.
My advise to Muslims: If you live elsewhere, do not go near the Netherlands. If you live in the Netherlands, plan your emigration.
My advise to foreign investors: Cut your losses, sell and leave. The establishment has ruined the country. The Netherlands is no longer a society. It is an aggregate of people looking for opportunities, without social cohesion. People in the Netherlands only laugh when another person goes down. That is an opportunity. You do not find this in newspapers. They are controlled by the establishment. But you do find it if you talk to the people.
About 10% of the dutch population is Muslim. What do you think will happen when Geert Wilders becomes prime-minister?
After reading this, can anyone in his right mind, support “Balkenende for president”? He is the leader of the establishment that caused this mess. Personally I like Balkenende to stay as the Dutch prime-minister as long as possible. When he leaves, there will be elections. After the elections: chaos. If we can postpone the elections for another year, I might have time to flee the country.
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