-Caveat Lector- Thursday June 14 5:48 PM ET Bush Surrounded by Criticism By SANDRA SOBIERAJ, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites) holds to his view that he's starting to win over skeptical European allies, but those allies are criticizing him and his agenda with striking candor. On global warming: ``The problem is we think that he has chosen the wrong policies,'' said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson. On missile defense: ``An incredible invitation to proliferation,'' chided French President Jacques Chirac. On Bush administration moves to restrict steel imports: ``Bad news ... it smells potentially, possibly, of protectionism,'' sniffed European Union (news - web sites) trade commissioner Pascal Lamy of France. And when it came to Bush voicing support for an expanded European Union, another top EU official essentially told the American to mind his own business. ``The United States is not a member of the European Union and the United States is not applying to join the EU, so U.S. views on EU expansion are rather different - the views of a partner and friend rather than somebody on the inside track,'' said external affairs commissioner Chris Patten. On his maiden European tour and first real diplomatic test, Bush has taken some rough handling by U.S. allies. Foreign policy experts here explain the lapse in diplomatic niceties as part European politics and part Bush's own doing. Richard Burt, President Reagan's ambassador to Germany, said Bush is encountering a long-emerging European attitude that, without the Soviets to fear, the continent is not so dependent on America. ``Europe is beginning to form its own political personality. To some extent, in the absence of the Soviet threat, there are some Europeans who want to define Europe in opposition to the United States,'' Burt said. European public opinion is very skeptical of his missile defense plans, angry that he rejected the Kyoto treaty on global warming, and against the death penalty he so actively enforced as Texas governor, said Philip Gordon, former National Security Council director for European affairs under President Clinton (news - web sites). ``So, for European leaders, it is good domestic politics to beat up on Bush while he's over there,'' Gordon said. ``But I don't think we're on the verge of some huge split with Europe.'' In some ways, too, Bush set himself up, said Helmut Sonnenfeldt, who handled European and NATO (news - web sites) issues for President Nixon's National Security Council. In last year's presidential campaign, Bush said he would quit U.S. participation in international peacekeeping operations in the Balkans (a position he has since reversed); seemed to espouse a go-it-alone unilateralism; and made clear that his first priority in foreign relations would be the Western hemisphere. ``Bush's advance notices made the Europeans more cautious and uneasy than they ever were with President Clinton,'' said Sonnenfeldt. The president's conservatism, personal style, and go-it-alone unilateralism have not helped. >From afar, Bush looked imperial and aloof to overseas counterparts, Sonnenfeldt said, and hardly willing ``to hang endlessly on the phone with them.'' Clinton, another Southern governor who entered the White House with no foreign policy experience, was better able to woo Europeans because ``he had an ear for what they wanted to hear,'' Burt said. By contrast, Bush has said the right things about listening and consulting, and yet has been so firm about his own policies and priorities that Europeans might wonder whether consultation could be meaningful. On his five-day, five-nation European debut, Bush hoped to leave a better impression than the one that preceded his arrival. He nicknamed British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) ``Landslide'' and proclaimed his NATO counterparts ``all friends.'' ``I hope the notion of a unilateral approach died in some people's minds here today,'' Bush said. On the downside, he mispronounced the surname of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and addressed NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson as ``Lord Robinson.'' Still, several NATO leaders whispered to reporters outside Wednesday's summit that they were surprised to find Bush forceful and confident in his views. ``The personal chemistry has been very good, very frank,'' remarked British Cabinet official Peter Hain, minister for Europe. At both the NATO gathering in Belgium and Thursday's EU meetings in Sweden, the harshest criticism unspooled outside Bush's presence but hardly behind his back. Persson and Patten spoke to small gaggles of reporters after Bush had left the room at the conclusion of a formal news conference. Off-stage criticism that Bush does not hear first-hand echoes from overseas news reports under headlines such as that in London's conservative The Daily Telegraph: ``Chirac blunts Bush's charm offensive.'' The British, who traditionally side with America in public whatever their private arguments, sloughed off any division as, in Patten's words ``disputes among family.'' Robertson acknowledged it was more when he said, ``Much remains to be done to make sure that the relationship remains sound and constructive on all sides.'' - Editor's Note: Sandra Sobieraj has covered the White House for AP since 1997. ANOMALOUS IMAGES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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