Europe sheds no tears over Tony's exit

Rashmee Roshan Lal / TNN / Jun 28, 2007, 02:26 IST

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Few tears are being shed in European chancelleries for Tony Blair on his departure from office.

LONDON: Despite regulation plaudits for the British Prime Minister who bestrode the world stage for 10 years, few tears are being shed in European chancelleries for Tony Blair on his departure from office.
Though the continent - old Europe and new - almost unanimously recognised Blair as Europe's most charismatic and eloquent leader, he left office in the state he was for the last four years - as a divisive figure, seen as too Atlanticist ever to champion the European cause in a cat-fight for influence with America.
The indicators are stark. A recent opinion poll in the authoritative Financial Times revealed that most Europeans, particularly in the ‘big' player-countries, France, Germany and Britain, did not think Blair to be the European Union's (EU) first president.
Asked if Blair would make a good first EU president, a post created at a summit just four days ago, 53% French, 64% Germans and 60% Britons said non, nein and no.

It is telling that Blair's departure from Downing Street on Wednesday provoked the most vocal expressions of sadness in all Europe from Ireland, just off the fringes of Britain.
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, Ireland's newly-re-elected leader, spoke warmly about his good friend and colleague Blair and regretfully admitted he would miss him. In a gesture seen as significant because Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 countries to make it, Ahern announced he was setting up a Tony Blair chair in the northern English city of Liverpool.

The £ 5-million “Blair chair” of Irish studies will be paid for by Irish taxpayers.
Ahern said it was a tribute to Blair's work at improving British-Irish relations. “It is a fitting way to mark Tony Blair's immense and historic contribution in helping bring peace to Ireland,” he said.
He said Blair's “contribution will be remembered by Irish people all over the world for as long as the history of our country is read and written.”
But Ahern's encomiums are considered hardly surprising. Blair worked alongside his Irish counterpart for eight years, keeping Northern Ireland's tortuous peace process on track.
So too French President Nicholas Sarkozy, seen to be the Gallic equivalent of Blair, with his youthful enthusiasm, reformist views and hail-fellow-well-met public persona.
But it is the deafening silence and muted good byes from the rest of Europe that speak volumes. According to informed observers, Blair's mistake was to present himself as Europe's saviour but turn out a false messiah.
Blair, say European diplomats, never gave Europe weight above America and always sided with the US on the most contentious issues of the day – Iraq; Lebanon; missile defence; Guantanamo Bay.
In the EU, Blair is also remembered as the man who pledged to take and keep “Britain at the heart of Europe” only to renege by failing to join the eurozone. According to one senior Eurocrat, “Blair was a first-class leader in Europe.
But he failed to make the case for Europe in Britain or to use his influence with the US effectively.”
Recently, Blair's pariah status was so pronounced in Europe that France's candidate for President, Ségolène Royal refused to be photographed with him in the run up to the election.

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