European leaders back Blair as envoy to MideastBy Stephen Castle
Sunday, June 24, 2007BRUSSELS: Europe's most senior officials have given their support to a plan to make Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain a Middle East envoy after he relinquishes the office of prime minister this week.
Washington is pressing Blair to become a representative of the Quartet of powers that are guarantors of the road map to peace: the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia. After canvassing key players at this EU summit meeting in Brussels over the weekend, Blair is seen as increasingly likely to win the position.
Such a move would also put one of Europe's most high profile power politicians at the heart of efforts to solve one of the world's most intractable diplomatic problems.
Blair has a track record as a successful negotiator having been one of the main architects of the Northern Ireland peace process.
In the sidelines of the EU's summit meeting, the British prime minister received private backing from the José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, and from Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Europe's Commissioner for External Relations, according to diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity.
Blair also held a meeting with Javier Solana, who speaks for the 27 national governments on EU foreign policy and who, despite having more reservations about the appointment, is not likely to try to block it.
One official speaking on condition of anonymity said all three of Blair's meetings at the Brussels summit meeting had gone satisfactorily. Blair is also believed to have raised the issue with the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, during informal talks which focused mainly on the threat from terrorism.
During discussions on the Quartet position, Barroso expressed pessimism about the prospects for peace in the Middle East. The commission president believes that the EU has failed to attain influence in the region proportionate to the money it spends in aid.
He gave his full backing to Blair for the post, however, as did Ferrero-Waldner. Nevertheless some European diplomats are worried that Blair's participation in the U.S.-led war in Iraq make him too controversial a figure in the Arab world. Blair's supporters counter that his ties to President George W Bush also give him leverage in Washington unrivaled among Europeans.