U.S. media are largely ignoring the European Union’s efforts to make a bigger splash on the world stage by selecting a new full-time president of the European Council, the group of EU leaders that holds regular summit meetings, and a new high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – in effect a foreign minister, although the British torpedoed the use of that title.
American disdain is doubtless accentuated by the obscurity of the politicians appointed to the two posts at an EU dinner Thursday night in Brussels – Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who becomes president of the Council, and Lady Catherine Ashton of the UK, currently EU Trade Commissioner, who is to be foreign policy czar. Neither has much foreign policy experience, and both are little-known even inside Europe.
The New York Times hits the nail on the head, reporting that “the selection of such low-profile figures seemed to highlight Europe’s problems instead of its readiness to take a more united and forceful place in world affairs” and that “the leaders of Europe’s most powerful countries, France and Germany, did not want to be overshadowed. Nor apparently did their foreign ministers.”
The desire of major EU states to retain their national influence in foreign policy was among the reasons why former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was rejected for the presidential post, although he had many other strikes against him, including his prominent support of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The U.S. media’s obsession with celebrity, however, ensures that the defeated Blair’s candidacy remains more compelling to some than those of the two winners. CNN’s piece briefly names Van Rompuy and Ashton, but the bulk of the article is dedicated to Blair.
The Wall Street Journal describes Van Rompuy as “an accidental holder of his current office,” and names Blair no fewer than eight times, together with a dejected close-up photo. “The choices of two politicians largely unknown outside their home countries suggest the long-held ambitions of some to give the bloc a bigger presence on the world stage had been scaled back,” it says in reference to the eight-year-long struggle to reshape the EU institutions that began in 2001.
Overall, The Wall Street Journal article portrays the European Union, the world’s largest economy, as a weak organization that has just chosen two meek and feeble leaders – a humble approach the two winners themselves appeared to confirm. One of Ashton’s first comments was that she planned to conduct “quiet diplomacy,” while Van Rompuy promised to be “discreet” in his new job.
These modest ambitions were reflected in editorial decisions at the three traditional U.S. network news shows. Neither NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, nor CBS Evening News mentioned the EU appointments Thursday night. And three of the most prominent daily newspapers have little to no front-page coverage of the event Friday. The Wall Street Journal features a 16 word teaser while The New York Times and The Washington Post have no reference on their front pages, but leave plenty of room for Oprah.
The Washington Post does quite a good job of putting the story in context, but completely ignores Ashton, apart from a single mention at the top, even though many Brussels experts believe her job will turn out to be more important than that of Van Rompuy.
The Washington Post online edition sloppily features a November 19 photo of Van Rompuy, who it says is “believed to be one of the candidates,” alongside a November 20 report on his winning the job.
Desperately seeking entertaining angles about Van Rompuy, some of the U.S. media settle on his penchant for writing Japanese-style haikus, often quite well. A blog published by The Wall Street Journal showcases some of Van Rompuy’s poetry, and reports that imitators have sprung up elsewhere in the media. CNN also mentions his love of haikus.
A sample from the balding Van Rompuy:
Hair blows in the wind
After years there is still wind
Sadly no more hair
The Los Angeles Times pokes fun at Van Rompuy’s poetry, including the hair-loss haiku, after likening him to an absent-minded professor and calling him a Harry Potter lookalike in a previous article, EU’s Angst Over Choosing a President Hasn’t Helped its Image. To be fair, this article makes fun of other candidates, too, depicting them as sad and pathetic. The reporter says that “despite self-congratulatory pep rallies in Brussels, [the EU] still isn’t ready for prime time,” a statement with which some Europeans might take issue.
In the more recent article, the Los Angeles Times makes the inaccurate statement that that Van Rompuy and Ashton will “represent the continent,” confusing Europe with the European Union. Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and most West Balkan states are not EU members, nor are Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Turkey, which has at least a toe-hold in Europe – not to mention Russia. The same reporter also propagates the hackneyed myth of Henry Kissinger’s desire for a single telephone number on which “to call Europe,” debunked in a previous post on this blog.
Sarah Bellotti contributed to this blog.
