European Tribune set to block Blair's Presidential Power Grab
Influential European bloggers who launched a "Stop Blair" campaign in February appear to be on track to block any hopes of former Prime Minister Blair of becoming European Union President later this year.
Jérôme Guillet, a Paris based investment banker, explained that the idea for the campaign emerged "spontaneously and unanimously" from the pro-EU online bloggers' community European Tribune.
"Tony Blair embodies many things we do not like. He is universally reviled," he said.
"This is not the rest of Europe against Britain. It is against him and what he stands for, especially that he is too close to George W Bush."
Many people signing the petition - now translated into over 20 languages and which collected thousands of signatories within days of going live - attack Mr Blair for supporting the war against Iraq.
"In order to lead his country into war, Mr Blair made systematic use of fabricated evidence and the manipulation of information," states the petition.
"His role in the Iraq war would weigh heavily on the image of the Union in the world, should he in fact be named its president."
Mr Blair is also criticised in the petition for failing to bring Britain into the euro and keeping the UK out of the EU's Schengen border-free travel zone.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, has been Mr Blair's only prominent supporter for EU president, a post created under the new Reform Treaty currently being debated in the House of Commons.
Mr Blair has signalled that he is interested in the job but campaigning is not expected to begin until the summer, after a June summit of EU leaders agree a job description.
Mr Sarkozy has also nominated Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's Prime Minister, a man, who unlike Mr Blair, is one of the EU’s last avowedly European Federalist leaders.
Brussels diplomats and officials suggest that it is likely that neither Mr Blair or Mr Juncker are really serious contenders for the job, to be decided at a special Brussels summit in October.
"They both cancel each other out. The Europhiles will oppose Blair and back Juncker. The Euro-realists will back Blair and oppose Juncker allowing another consensus candidate to emerge," said one.
Gordon Brown's explicit backing for Mr Blair is generally seen as the pre-condition for a serious campaign.
"If Britain's Prime Minister does not support Mr Blair then Angela Merkel will not. If the German Chancellor does not back him then Mr Blair can not win," said one EU diplomat.
"We will only know that Mr Blair is a serious candidate when Mr Brown gives clear support."
The Prime Minister, while saying Mr Blair would make an "excellent" EU president, has conspicuously failed to back his predecessor's candidature.
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Source: Adapted from Bruno Waterfield in Brussels for the Telegraph.co.uk