Maybe invading a country and partnering with George Bush wasn't such a great idea for Tony Blair after all. If he bring peace to the Middle East, maybe he deserves a second look but for now he's going to have to work a little harder at solving problems instead of creating them. The new EU president will be Herman Van Rompuy who is not exactly a household name.
Originally an economist, he has been a career politician though without any great claim to fame and a one year stint as Belgian PM. Previous comments about Christianity being an important principle in Europe is sure to worry many. The Guardian:
Europe's eight-year quest to establish a simpler and more democratic regime came to a dramatic climax tonight when the Belgian prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, and Britain's Cathy Ashton, were appointed as the two top officials embodying the new system.
In a surprise move that saw Gordon Brown abandon his campaign to have Tony Blair made first president of the European Council, Lady Ashton, the current European commissioner for trade, became Europe's foreign minister or high representative for foreign and security policy.
Rompuy, a Flemish Christian Democrat, who had been Belgium's prime minister for less than a year, became president of the European Council, the first permanent leader who will chair EU summits and represent the EU abroad.
