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Belgian Premier Van Rompuy Named First EU President
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Edited | Ralphie Nov 19, 2009 05:30pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Nov 19, 2009 05:00pm |
| Description | European Union leaders picked the low-key prime minister of Belgium and a British trade representative who's never held elective office as the bloc's first president and foreign minister.
There were weeks of complex back-and-forth, but the heads of the 27 EU nations settled quickly on Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton over dinner here Thursday after former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- hoping for a political resurrection -- lost the backing of his government.
Mr. Blair's withdrawal "made it easy" for the others to settle on Mr. Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton, said Mr. Van Rompuy's spokesman.
The choices of two politicians largely unknown outside their home countries suggest the long-held ambitions of some to give the bloc a bigger presence on the world stage had been scaled back.
The posts of president and foreign minister were introduced with the EU's Lisbon Treaty, a set of reforms to the bloc's internal functions that had been sought by proponents of a strong, centralized Europe for years and was ratified after a lengthy struggle just a few weeks ago. |
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