20. 11. 09. - 16:00

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20. 11. 09. - 16:00

Austrian MEPs furious as EU leaders named

By Thomas Hochwarter

Austrian Members of the European Parliament (MEP) have blasted the "lacklustre" appointments of the new European Union (EU) President of the European Council and Foreign Affairs Chief.

Independent MEP Hans-Peter Martin – who got 17.9 per cent of votes in the June EP elections to come third in Austria – today (Fri) called the EU’s decisions "evidence of incapacity" and "disgusting trading of political posts".

Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was last night named as the EU’s first President of the European Council while British Social Democrat Catherine Ashton is to become its Foreign Affairs Chief.

Martin – who fell out with the Austrian Social Democrats (SPÖ) after heading the party’s list for the EP election in 1999 – said it would have been better to hold public elections or let the European Parliament (EP) decide on the nominations.

Martin labelled Van Rompuy and Ashton "lacklustre faces lacking any leadership qualities".

Jörg Leichtfried, who heads the SPÖ’s delegation in the EP, said he was happy that, with Ashton, a Social Democrat was named as Foreign Affairs Chief, but he added he would have preferred Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Council instead of Van Rompuy. "I hope Ashton manages to bring Great Britain and the EU closer together," Leichtfried added.

ÖVP MEP Othmar Karas said the decisions were made "based on the lowest common denominator". Asked what he thought of Ashton’s qualification for the job, he said: "I won’t comment on that – is that enough of a comment?"

Andreas Mölzer, MEP for the right-wing Freedom Party’s (FPÖ), rejected the appointments with a series of bizarre statements. He said: "Speculation that Ashton has been picked because (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel looks like a Playboy girl next to her have to be rubbished, of course."

"And the opinion that Van Rompuy has become President of the European Council because (French president) Nicolas Sarkozy looks like James Bond when standing next to him need to be dismissed too," Mölzer added.

Josef Bucher, head of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) who are currently not represented in the EP but will get one seat when the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect, said: "The months-long tug of war over the EU’s top positions has caused massive damage to the European Union."

ÖVP MP Wolfgang Schüssel – who had been rumoured to be in the running for the post of the President of the European Council – welcomed the nominations. Schüssel – Austrian Chancellor between 2000 and 2007 – said he would like to congratulate Van Rompuy.

"I am convinced these two new EU top jobs will bring stability and continuity into our community," he added.

Austrian Times

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