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| Europe |
| Belgian Prime Minister named first EU President |
| 2009-11-20 |
| [Dawn] European leaders chose Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the European Union's first President on Thursday, the EU presidency announced, after Britain dropped its backing for Tony Blair. Britain in exchange secured the prestigious diplomatic post of European foreign policy supremo for its current EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. The two posts are aimed at boosting Europe's clout in the international arena and allowing it to speak with a unified voice to powers like the United States and China. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Tulip snappers |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-11-20 18:39 |
| #5 And now for something completely different.... Micheal Palin: "Well now, the result of last week's competition when we asked you to find a derogatory term for the Belgians. Well, the response was enormous and we took quite a long time sorting out the winners. There were some very clever entries. Mrs Hatred of Leicester Said 'let's not call them anything, let's just ignore them' ... (applause starts vigorously, but he holds his hands up for silence) ... and a Mr St John of Huntingdon said he couldn't think of anything more derogatory than Belgians. (cheers and applause; a girl in showgirl costume comes on and holds up placards through next bit) But in the end we settled on three choices: number three ... the Sprouts (placard 'The Sprouts'), sent in by Mrs Vicious of Hastings... very nice ; number two..... the Phlegms (placard) ... from Mrs Childmolester of Worthing; but the winner was undoubtedly from Mrs No-Supper-For-You from Norwood in Lancashire... Miserable Fat Belgian Bastards. (placard; roar of applause) Very good - thank you, Carol." |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-11-20 14:50 |
| #4 Damn! I forgot to go vote. Oh, wait. |
| Posted by: Grealing Turkeyneck2221 2009-11-20 10:46 |
| #3 Brussels Journal's take on Rompuy: Meet the President of Europe Herman Van Rompuy. Get used to the name. He is the first President of the European Union, which with the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon by all the 27 EU member states in early November was transformed into a genuine United States of Europe. The President of Europe has not been elected; he was appointed in a secret meeting of the heads of government of the 27 EU member states. They chose one of their own. Herman Van Rompuy was the Prime Minister of Belgium. I knew him when he was just setting out, reluctantly, on his political career. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-11-20 09:40 |
| #2 The EU where the police are German, the chefs are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-11-20 08:03 |
| #1 Welcome to Frandeutchia |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-11-20 00:30 |