hey, jockstrap/eurotrash...
Posted on 11/05/2004 7:15:16 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union (news - web sites) urged re-elected President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday to make a fresh start in transatlantic cooperation, but internal EU differences over ties with Washington refused to die down.
"The EU and its member states look forward to working very closely with President Bush and his new administration to combine efforts, including in multilateral institutions, to promote the rule of law and create a just, democratic and secure world," the 25 EU leaders said in a joint statement.
But the future of relations with the United States prompted a fresh outbreak of public sparring by European rivals Britain and France at an EU summit in Brussels.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) rubbed salt into wounds opened by the Iraq (news - web sites) war by saying that some leaders, whom he did not name, were in "a state of denial" about Bush's victory.
In the anti-war camp, President Jacques Chirac said France would not forget its differences with the United States and believed a stronger Europe was the natural response to U.S. foreign policy assertiveness in "an ever more multipolar world."
The phrase revived a smoldering debate in Europe over whether a more integrated EU should act as a counterweight to perceived U.S. unilateralism or as a junior partner to Washington in re-ordering the world.
France favors the former and Britain the latter, but many European governments are uncomfortable about being pressed to choose between the two.
KERRY SYMPATHY
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who chaired the summit, appealed to Bush to realize in his second term that he needed European help to meet global challenges from fighting terrorism, AIDS (news - web sites) and poverty to stabilising the Middle East.
"I really hope that after the election of President Bush ... he will invest in good relations with the European countries. We're looking forward to these close ties with the United States because we have a shared responsibility for worldwide issues," he told a news conference.
Some EU leaders and a large majority of the European public had openly sympathised with defeated Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites), who promised to listen more to America's allies and seek broader international cooperation.
Blair suggested many Europeans had lost touch with reality.
"I think it's pretty obvious if you read the comments that are made by people around Europe over the past few months, there are some people who have not wanted to come to terms with the changes that have happened," he told reporters.
"I'm not going to go and start pointing fingers at people. What I'm really saying is that we've got to move on now. There's a new reality so let's work with that reality," Blair said.
Bush urged allies on Thursday to put aside their differences over Iraq and work with him in the global war against terrorism.
"Whatever our past disagreements, we share a common enemy," he told his first post-election news conference.
One long-time European critic, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, reached out to the re-elected Republic president, telephoning him on Friday to offer personal congratulations and talk about future relations.
Several of the leaders who supported Bush in Iraq, including the Danish and Polish leaders, urged him to reach out to the whole of Europe and make more of an effort in his second term to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace.
I know this will sound dumb, and I have been trying to figure it out, but what does STFU stand for? (pretty sure about the FU)
blair and eastern europe think common enemy are the terrorists. france and germany think common enemy is the united states. go blair! grab 'em by the short hair.
Right- we need the EU to solve world problems.
So all you euro-weenies, suit up and head for Darfur. If we're not there, start without us.
i agree, but add uk to that list. blair is going out on a limb for us.
thanks--your are right. don't forget about 4 failed "democracies" in france. the "french revolution" conjures up images of one battle in 1789, but there were 3 others. perchance the french don't like democracies?
"Bush to EU: You need me more than I need you. Seen an American tourist lately? Sold a block of brie or case of wine recently? Keep dreaming about it!
Make boycotting France, Germany, & Spain a way of life.
Bush to EU: You need to stop CAUSING World Problems.
(Eddie Murphy laugh).LoL........
Translation: America needs to solve the world's problems
by itself, but give us all the credit.
Thanks.
EU to Bush: You need (to get rid of)us to solve world problems.
Oh definately. I thought I had England in my original list.
what does STFU stand for? (pretty sure about the FU)
Shut The
i just checked and you did. sorry for the oversight. you could have called me a silly moron for being illiterate or something. but hey, like all conservative, you got class!
We need them only if our actions require a spectator gallery.
The EU is the worlds problems.
What are you, English?
JUST JOKING!
Srengthening the Angloshere alliance seems to be the wiser course for the United States to take. The UK and Australia are far more reliable and rational than the EU. If we must share power to build alliances we might as well do it with nations that behave as adults.
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