British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Thursday support for his predecessor Tony Blair as an "excellent candidate" to become the first EU president.
"We the British government believe that Tony Blair would be an excellent candidate, an excellent person to hold the job of president of the (EU) council," Brown told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels where the matter was being discussed, the AP reported. "We would like him to be a candidate, that of course is his decision to make," he added.
Brown added that his predecessor had not yet declared his candidature and the post will not exist until the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified, the BBC reported.
When that happens, the field will open to candidates, Brown told the BBC.
Mr. Blair's "great strengths are not what the European Union most needs from this new presidential office,"
Former British Home Secretary Charles Clarke wrote in the Independent. The UK needs to repair its relationships with the EU and have a "fresh start", which Mr. Blair's presidency would make difficult to achieve.
Blair faces strong opposition elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the Benelux nations, the AP reported. The former prime minister’s support for the Iraq war and his failure to bring Britain into the Eurozone, or the passport-free Schengen area, weaken his chances.
