INTERVIEW: Vike-Freiberga makes pitch for EU's top job

By Mike Collier Nov 12, 2009, 13:12 GMT

   Riga - Two-time Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga spelled out Thursday her priorities if she is named president of the European Council, a new position created by the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.

   'The position calls for someone who can help members of the European Council achieve consensus on difficult issues, and then become their collective voice. I would listen to them and become a conduit or a loudspeaker for their concerns,' the 71-year-old stateswoman told the German News Agency dpa.

   Vike-Freiberga is the only candidate who is openly campaigning for the position, and her pitch to serve as a mediator is likely to be attractive to smaller countries.

   Two leaders believed to be front-runners for the post, to be decided at an EU summit November 19, are the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Herman Van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende.

   Vike-Freiberga was initially thought to be an outsider, but in recent days she has emerged as a realistic contender.

   She said she has not wasted time since the end of her second term as Latvia's president in 2007.

   'I did leave office as president two years ago - but I have not had the time to notice! Since then I have worked as vice president of the Reflection Group on the future of EU, I have coordinated a special report on the European Research Council, and I have participated in numerous debates in European circles.

   'As a result, I am familiar with all the recent debates in the European Council but, I believe, I am also in touch with public opinion,' Vike-Freiberga said.

   Those activities have given her a clear vision for the continent, she said. 'First, we will need to implement the new institutions established by the Lisbon Treaty. I see my role as one of helping the heads of state make faster and better decisions on a range of urgent matters: financial perspectives, the economic crisis, solidarity within the (EU's 27 members) and diplomatic crises.

   'Let us not forget, however, the very core of the EU project (is) the single market, which needs to be nurtured and reconciled with the social priorities that we share.

   'We also need to improve and democratize European governance, include the European Parliament better in our deliberations and improve the relationship between the European Commission and the European Council,' she said.

   Though clearly enthusiastic about the prospect of a spectacular political comeback, she insisted that her candidacy had not been at her own initiative.

   'The prime minister (Valdis Dombrovskis) unexpectedly called me up on the telephone and asked me whether I would accept to stand as a candidate if put forward by Latvia. I answered that 'Yes,' I was ready to accept,' Vike-Freiberga told dpa.

   'I have been a committed European for a long time ... I believe that European integration is the greatest success story we have had for centuries on our continent,' she said.