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New EU assembly head to promote inter-cultural ties (2nd Roundup)
Jan 16, 2007, 13:00 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's newly-elected president Hans Gert Poettering on Tuesday vowed to promote stronger links between European and Muslim nations as part of a drive to forge greater inter-cultural understanding.
The German conservative, who replaces Spanish socialist Josep Borrel, was elected head of the EU assembly earlier Tuesday after winning an absolute majority of 450 votes out of 689 votes cast.
Poettering also promised to revive key elements of the crippled EU constitutional treaty which was rejected by French and Dutch voters last year, triggering a major Europe-wide constitutional crisis.
The new parliament chief called for joint EU actions to ensure energy security and to combat terrorism and illegal immigration.
Poettering, 61, is member of the EU parliament's largest and most influential conservative group known as the European Peoples Party. He will head the assembly until parliamentary elections scheduled in June 2009.
The German conservative's election to the top parliamentary post comes as no surprise given a controversial power-sharing deal worked out by the EPP and the Socialists - the assembly's second largest group - in 2004.
Despite the predictable result, however, Poettering's formal election was described as a 'great moment for our political group' by new EPP chairman, Frenchman Joseph Daul.
Poettering, who has headed the EPP group since 1999, has vowed to stand up to pressure by big member states and to be a 'fair and objective president' of the assembly.
In his farewell speech to the Strasbourg plenary on Monday, Borrell warned his successor to 'remain vigilant' and prevent a deterioration of the parliament's clout vis a vis governments.
As a Christian democrat ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the current EU presidency, Poettering is expected to boost the influence of the assembly through his contacts in Berlin.
But he has argued that being in Merkel's party does not mean he will follow instructions from Berlin.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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dlshoustonJan 16th, 2007 - 13:54:45
Great idea, to work toward more inter-cultural understanding. However, I would hope that the honorable Mr. Poettering realizes that he cannot do so based on any diplomatic or political training he has accumulated at this point in his career. It is all useless and he must go back to the basics, as a certain Mr. Lombardi once commented. All the old diplomatic and political game plans are useless. To even get into the game of inter-cultural understanding he must first study the opposing team. I would recommend he start by first watching the movie, 'Obsession the Movie' by Raphael Shore and Nonie Darwish. Then, read the book by Mr. Mark Steyn, 'America Alone - The End Of The World As We Know It.' This book could also apply if it were titled perhaps 'The _______ Alone...' and put in whatever western country you wish. Think of it like this; If you wanted to at least come to a draw with an opposing football team in a game that would forever define world culture, would you just ask the opposing team to tell you how they play the game; or, would you want to consider all sources of information about the opposing team before embarking on the task? Its not that one has to agree with any information researched; but politically correct shackles on research will only come back to be your own shackles in the end.
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