Blair’s Failed Bid for EU Presidency

BERLIN (DeutscheWelle) – Tony Blair will probably not become ‘Europe’s George Washington’ after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to back the former British prime minister at a summit in Brussels.

“With Angela Merkel, we have agreed that France and Germany will have a common vision and support the same candidate when the time comes,” Sarkozy said.

Blair's demise is Miliband's gain.

Sarkozy turns against his old ally

Sarkozy once declared his support for Blair’s candidacy, but the British campaign to push Blair stumbled when Brown failed to win the blessing of European socialists before the summit began.

“If he cannot get the backing of the socialist group, being a Labour man himself, it’s a very difficult situation,” Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.