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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 19:14 19/10/2007 Blair gets early backing in race to be EU's first president By Associated Press Tony Blair, the Mideast envoy for the Quartet, got early backing from the British and French leaders at the end of an EU summit on Friday to become the European Union's first-ever full-time president, a role meant to boost the EU's profile on the world stage. With an agreement on the EU governing treaty in the bag, the leaders were quick to toss Blair's hat into the ring of candidates for the prestigious post of chairing the EU. Advertisement British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his predecessor would be a great candidate to become EU boss. The reform treaty needs to be ratified by all member nations before a president could take office, likely in 2009. "Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job, Brown told reporters at the end of the EU summit. As you know the work that he is doing in the Middle East (as a peace envoy) is something that is of huge international importance." Another Blair admirer, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, also hoisted him as a bona fide candidate. "Blair is a very remarkable man. The most European of all Britons. To think of him would be a good idea," Sarkozy said, but added that it was too early to rule out other potential candidates. Media reports in recent days had already listed Blair, Danish Premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on the short list for the job, which is meant to boost the profile and unity of the 27-nation union. Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has also been touted as a candidate and he himself refused to rule himself out to be EU boss. It's an interesting job, he said. The new position, created under the newly named Lisbon Treaty, will yield few formal powers but will chair leaders summits and meetings and help the EU's foreign policy chief represent the bloc on the world stage. The first president of the (EU's) European Council will probably come from old member states, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said, and he sought to discourage his political rival, Kwasniewski, from seeking the post. "If I was him ... I would not run for another post," Kaczynski said. Kwasniewski's party is running in Polish elections Sunday, but is polling at a distant third. The former president is not seeking a legislative seat himself, but if his party is successful he could become prime minister. Former communist Kwasniewski, however, seems to be the front-runner for EU presidency, according to British EU lawmaker Andrew Duff, a longtime Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament who helped draft the new EU treaty. 'Kwasniewski, he's very good. He's from the east, and he's a social democrat, which we need as well, Duff said. He rejected the idea of a Blair candidacy, saying other countries would never pick him because of his track record, notably on backing the U.S. war in Iraq, which was opposed by many EU nations. "He's just too British, and a Brit doesn't deserve the job," Duff said. Former Danish Premier Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the Party of European Socialists, was already campaigning for his successor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. You should always hope that it will be someone from your own country, no matter who it might be, Nyrup Rasmussen told Danish daily Politiken. Fogh Rasmussen said after the summit, however, that he was not interested. Other candidates mentioned include longtime Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker and outgoing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. Under the new treaty a president has to be chosen and backed by all leaders and can serve for a maximum five-year term. The new EU boss is to replace the current and often confusing system in which EU leaders and nations rotate into the presidency every six months. EU nations will also have to pick a new high representative to coordinate the bloc's foreign policy, a post currently held by Spaniard Javier Solana. Sweden's Foreign Minister Karl Bildt has been circulated as a possible successor. The post will be given more powers and will get a seat on the EU's executive commission when the treaty comes into force. As vice president of the European Commission, the foreign policy chief will get control over the EU's aid budget and its extensive network of diplomats and civil servants Bookmark to del.icio.us Killer father Rabin killer's wife says will tell tjheir son his father 'sacrificed himself for his people'. Tehran to Tel Aviv A Christian-Jewish group is promising dozens of Iranian Jews a better life in Israel.   1.   The people of Europe will never allow for that 21:18  |  Benjamin Morris 19/10/07   2.   Antony Blair 21:51  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/10/07   3.   It is a very unlikely candidate 23:01  |  Jean-Paul DOGUET 19/10/07   4.   Bush`s poodle chairing the EU? 00:13  |  Axel 20/10/07   5.   there is a longtime tradition in the EU: 09:24  |  Kris 20/10/07   6.   I support Tony Blair 09:27  |  KUTW 20/10/07   7.   Made it, Ma! Top of the world! 11:46  |  Clickfool 20/10/07   8.   Jean Paul Doguet # 3 07:24  |  Philippe 22/10/07   9.   Good !! BUT Bad for Mohamedans and its 03:34  |  cristo 23/10/07

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