Business as usual

The British media may be screeching about the Constitutional Reform Lisbon Treaty being dead, which as my colleague on EUReferendum sums up, is simply untrue; the Wall Street Journal may come out with a thoughtful editorial about Ireland teaching the European Union the lessons of democracy (an image of a child appears with fingers in his ears shouting “can’t hear you, can’t hear you”); the New York Times bemoans that “Ireland Derails a Bid to Recast Europe’s Rules” (no nonsense about democracy for them – look what happens when it is exercised – you get a Republican President); and numerous Continental newspapers and international news agencies may prattle about there being a crisis in the EU.

Not so that you’d notice, there isn’t. The Head Honcho for Foreign Affairs, having recently been completely unsuccessful in his attempts to negotiate some sort of a deal between Russia and Georgia (as the Eurasia Daily Monitor reported yesterday, though there is no link yet on the website) has gone to work his magic in Iran.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Iran on Saturday to respond positively to a new offer on ending a six-year standoff over its nuclear drive, even after Tehran rejected a key condition.

Well, at least we have an EU foreign policy chief, if not precisely an EU foreign policy or, for that matter, any successes to write home about.