by talos
Fri Oct 2nd, 2009 at 09:19:09 AM EST
Following on a comment I made on the (soon to be elected) Greek Socialists and the Tony Blair candidacy for president of the European Council, I had the opportunity today of publicly asking PASOK's leader George Papandreou himself about the issue...
The video is not up yet, so this is from memory:
The event was a "blogger conference" in which Papandreou faced the bloggers (OK some bloggers) among which I was invited. So as you might expect, I asked him about PASOK's intentions regarding the possible Blair candidacy, mentioning the Stop Blair campaign and the fact that a large segment of the European population consider him a criminal for his complicity in western aggression against Iraq, among other things. "Would a PASOK administration veto his candidacy?" I asked.
I expected something non-committal, to tell you the truth but I got something a bit more. A bit. But something. He answered that he shares my sentiments regarding Tony Blair and whether he deserves to be President of the EU, and the only reason he can't answer positively is that Blair's candidacy is not official. Also though, because such appointments are part of larger bargains within the EU that include commissioner appointments and other matters and thus he can't commit himself to a veto, but, he repeated that he shares my reservations about the person.
Which isn't a commitment, and it ain't much probably, but I thought I'd let you know... I should have asked him to sign the petition, now that I think of it ;-)
Update [2009-10-2 19:44:24 by talos]:: Papandreou's answer is here:
...at ~1:50 (my question was in the previous video segment). A quick translation:
"About your other question, I've heard about the issue... but I haven't received any (official) reports on who [the candidates will be]. I agree with your criticism of Tony Blair, but before there is any official candidacy allow me not to make any commitments before I can make a final decision. And of course we would have to look at the developments in the EU, there are comissioners, [Foreign Minister], many positions to be filled and the negotiations for all these are tough, and we have to look out for both our national interests and the EU's interest... But personally I share your unease...
My question described Blair's actions in Iraq as criminal, and that PASOK will be the only governing party in the EU not to have any de facto commitment or need to support Blair..."
