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EU PARIS SUMMIT
OF FOREIGN MINISTERS CANCELED
The summit meeting between the foreign ministers of four European Union countries has been canceled. The chiefs of foreign affairs of France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain were supposed to gather next Thursday in Paris, but the press office of French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine confirmed that there were "scheduling conflicts." The meeting would have been one of the first appearances of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in his new function as foreign minister in addition to already being the country's prime minister. Spanish Foreign Affairs minister Josep Piqu� canceled a scheduled visit to Rome today, as his new counterpart is still on vacation in Sardinia. FORMER PEERS SING PRAISE OF DEPARTED FOREIGN MINISTER Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Renato Ruggiero went on a holiday, but the phone in his one-time office at the Farnesina Palace has been ringing incessantly the last two days, reported his former aides. Mr. Ruggiero's former assistants have been taking heart-warming messages that reverberated "solidarity, admiration, and respect" for the former foreign minister who was forced to resign last week. The callers included the foreign minister's counterparts from Spain and Great Britain, Josep Piqu� and Jack Straw, as well as the representative for foreign politics of the European Union, Javier Solana, and American Secretary of State Colin Powell. SWEDEN RETHINKS ITS NEGATIVE STANCE ON THE EURO A survey conducted by the Skop Institute of Stockholm, to probe the Swedes' enthusiasm for Europe's new single currency showed that the country's citizens were veering towards a more positive view of the euro than before. The poll reflected that 44% of those surveyed were against, and 51% in favor of the European Union's common currency already adopted by twelve of its member nations. In a similar poll in November, the gap was much narrower, with 47% against and 48% in favor of the euro. Sweden, its neighbor Denmark, and Great Britain are the only three European Union member nations that did not adopt the EU's single currency. Prime Minister Goeran Persson announced that a referendum on the euro would be scheduled after the September 15 parliamentary elections. |
