27 October 2009: Daily Mail
By Kirsty Walker
David Miliband tries to drum up support for Blair
Brown 'asks civil servants to quietly lobby for him'
Leading figures in Europe warns he's unsuitable
Czech court to rule on final block to Lisbon Treaty
A foreign backlash is growing against Tony Blair becoming Europe's first president.
Despite a brazen attempt by David Miliband to drum up support, leading political figures in France, Germany, Austria and Poland warned yesterday that the former prime minister was an unsuitable candidate.
Mr Miliband risked accusations of abusing his position as Foreign Secretary by using an official meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg to garner support for Mr Blair.
The leading Blairite cabinet minister also continued to take to the airwaves to play up his former leader's credentials.
He described him as the 'leading candidate' for the job and revealed that Mr Blair - who has already earned the nickname 'Boney Blair' for his Napoleon-like aspirations - was waiting to see what the job would entail before formally throwing his hat into the ring.
Hours after landing in Luxembourg, Mr Miliband told journalists: 'Europe needs a strong voice, and member states have to ask themselves if they want a powerful or a weak Europe.
'If they want to establish a strong European voice on the world stage, then the question becomes, who are the candidates? It would be good for Britain and for Europe if Mr Blair was that man.'
Earlier, Mr Miliband delivered one of the most fiercely pro-European speeches ever to be delivered by a British foreign secretary.
Addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, he warned the UK would lose out internationally if it tried to oppose EU foreign policy on the grounds of 'hubris, nostalgia or xenophobia'.
He added: 'To be frightened of European foreign policy is blinkered, fatalistic and wrong. Britain should embrace it, shape it and lead European foreign policy.'
Gordon Brown also gave his strongest message of backing to Mr Blair so far by saying he would be 'completely supportive' if he stood for the job of president.
The Prime Minister is also said to have asked two of his most senior civil servants to quietly lobby for his predecessor to get the role.
His most senior adviser in Europe John Cunliffe and Britain's EU ambassador Kim Darroch are reportedly testing the water at senior levels.
Their roles emerged amid warnings from Whitehall figures that the job will elude the former Prime Minister unless he starts to campaign himself.
So far, he has publicly refused to be drawn on whether he wants the presidential role. It is possible he is doing so to avoid following in the footsteps of former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
He was humiliated when Mr Blair blocked his election to president of the European Commission in 2004.
Mr Miliband's behaviour in recent days suggests he is acting as Mr Blair's unofficial campaign manager.
EU leaders attending a summit in Brussels this week are expected to discuss the plan, even though the issue is not on the formal agenda.
However, a string of senior European politicians yesterday warned that Mr Blair was not a suitable candidate for the job because of his involvement in the Iraq war and Britain's opposition to the euro.
Franz Fischer, a former Austrian EU commissioner, said: 'There are big doubts about his suitability. Blair is stamped, particularly in the Arab world, as being a partner of Bush.'
Conservative German MEP Herbert Reul said: 'He doesn't fit the profile of a president of Europe at all. He doesn't reflect Europe's voice or mood.'
Fellow German MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, from the Free Democratic Party, added: 'The president has to know things about the euro and as a British politician, to be quite honest, quite clear and quite frank, he has gone against the euro.'
Mr Chatzimarkakis also dismissed Mr Miliband's extraordinary claim that Mr Blair would be a good president because only he could 'stop traffic' when he arrives in foreign capitals.
'Any President of the European Union being elected for two and a half years will have this reaction world wide because he will be the President of the European Union,' said Mr Chatzimarkakis.
French politicians added their weight to the 'stop Blair' campaign. Jacques Myard, a member of the National Assembly of France, said increasing numbers of European-politicians and officials were now opposed to him becoming president.
He said: 'Many say, "How can we choose a chairman of a country which is not very European?".'
The French politician said Mr Blair's stance on Iraq was 'part' of the problem, but added: 'I think the main argument is coming from the fact he has not been advocating for Britain to join the Euro systems.'
Swedish EU commissioner Margot Wallstrom insisted a woman should take up the post.
'Look at the names mentioned. From a democratic point of view it reduces that 52.6 percent of women to a minority...and I don't think this is acceptable in the European Union of 2009. I think we have competent, good women that could be mentioned and nominated,' she said.
A court hearing in the Czech Republic that could remove one of the final barriers to the Lisbon Treaty's ratification and to the President job being created started today.
The country is the only one of the EU's 27 members not yet to have ratified the controversial document.
Members of the Senate who are loyal to eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus have filed a complaint, claiming it is an infringement of Czech sovereignty.
The court is expected to declare the Treaty does adhere to the Czech constitution - possibly as soon as today - and the group is not planning another complaint if their argument is rejected.
This would mean President Klaus can sign the document to complete the ratification process there and across the whole union.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1223222/EU-backlash-David-Miliband-pushes-President-Boney-Blair.html#ixzz0V8bLt4P4
