24 October 2009 - AFP
LONDON — Foreign Secretary David Miliband denied Friday reports that he is in the running for the newly-created job billed as European Union (EU) foreign minister.
In a post on online messaging service Twitter, Miliband dismissed the reports in the Times and Guardian newspapers that he could become EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
"Re gdn/times stories I'm not running for Europe High Rep job. I'm the Foreign Sec thank you very much -- fully booked," he tweeted.
The new EU job, widely seen as amounting to an EU foreign minister backed by a newly-created EU diplomatic service, is a key innovation under the 27-nation bloc's new Lisbon Treaty.
The treaty is set to come into force after Irish voters this month reversed a referendum No vote which had threatened to torpedo it. Czech President Vaclav Klaus is the last obstacle, and there are growing indications he will sign it soon.
The Guardian reported that Miliband was the subject of "growing talk" in Brussels, Paris, Berlin and Scandinavia -- Sweden currently holds the rotating EU presidency -- linking his name to the new EU job.
It cited a Scandinavian minister as saying he "is in the frame" for the job, while the Times quoted a Belgian diplomat as saying: "We have a very favourable impression of Mr. Miliband."
Another EU diplomat told the Times: "He is effective and well liked. He has an ability to combine tactics with an understanding of the political big picture and people find that very impressive."
The reports come amid signs that former premier Tony Blair is losing ground in the running to become EU president, another newly-created job to replace the current musical-chairs six-month rotating presidency.
Blair has not declared his candidacy, but he has the backing of Britain as well as Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. Luxembourg is however strongly against while the crucial positions of Germany and France remain unclear.
Miliband's denial comes before what is being billed as a keynote speech on Europe next week, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London on Monday.
The Foreign Office confirmed Miliband's Twitter denial was genuine. Following US pop star Michael Jackson's death in June, a hoax tweet was widely attributed to the British minister, saying: "Never has one soared so high and yet dived so low. RIP Michael."
