EU leaders talk World Cup at summit
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-16 09:14 The future of Europe was on
the table but EU leaders seemed keener to talk about the World Cup as they
kicked off a two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday.
German Chancellor
Merkel greets French President Chirac during a EU heads of state summit in
Brussels June 15, 2006.[Reuters] |
With the 25-nation EU divided on how or whether to revive a European Union
constitution, the tournament was a main point of discussion in the corridors of
a heads of state summit.
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said his country could not lose against
England next Tuesday, whatever the score in their match, because England's
manager is a Swede.
"Sweden will win either in the form of Sven-Goran Eriksson or the Swedish
national team," he told reporters.
His British counterpart Tony Blair slipped out of the summit chamber to watch
England beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0.
"He saw the last 10 minutes of the first half, went into meeting, did his
business, went out 10 minutes into the second half and watched the second half,"
his spokesman said.
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel -- whose government is currently
president of the EU -- dropped diplomatic niceties to criticise fellow bloc
member France for its dull 0-0 draw with Switzerland on Tuesday, as well as
world champions Brazil.
"The interesting thing is that the real favourites disappointed in the first
round. Brazil for instance, or France. But anyway, I am neutral as you know," he
told reporters.
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