Quem sucederá a Catherine Ashton?

A group of eastern European countries have launched an eleventh-hour bid to block Italy from being handed the post of the EU’s new foreign policy chief this week, blaming Rome for not taking a hard enough stance against Russia.
The campaign against Italian foreign minister Federica Mogherini’s nomination (foto) is being led by Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, which are the strongest advocates of tough sanctions against the Kremlin, according to EU diplomats.
Their effort has received tacit support from other countries that have backed tough sanctions after Ms Mogherini last week invited Russian president Vladimir Putin to an October summit of EU and Asian leaders in Milan.

The battle over who will replace Catherine Ashton in the post has moved on to the frontburner ahead of Wednesday’s summit because of increasing fears that other top EU positions – particularly the European Council president, who chairs EU summits – will not be agreed because of a lack of consensus.

“I’ve rarely seen it so open,” said an EU veteran of such negotiations.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has urged a “package” agreement of all remaining top jobs at the summit and has signalled a willingness to accept Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark’s centre-left prime minister, to replace Herman Van Rompuy as council president. Ms Merkel had previously urged her fellow centre-right leaders to block a socialist for the position.

But her acquiescence to Ms Thorning-Schmidt, who has support in Britain, has raised concerns in Paris, where there is opposition to a non-eurozone leader chairing summits of both EU and eurozone leaders.
“We have nothing against her personally, but who would then be president of eurozone councils?” said a senior French official. “The problem is the political image it creates. The Front National would immediately shout that the euro is being run by someone outside the eurozone.”

Over the weekend, Ms Mogherini’s candidacy took a more partisan bent. According to two senior EU officials, Europe’s centre-left leaders – including Italy’s Matteo Renzi and France’s François Hollande – held a conference call on Saturday where they agreed to endorse her.

But there is growing opposition within the European parliament, which must confirm her nomination, particularly within its centre-right bloc, which believes Ms Mogherini – who has only been Italian foreign minister since February – lacks experience and stature.
“Do you choose capability and experience or do you choose political colour and gender?” asked one leading centre-right politician opposed to Ms Mogherini’s candidacy.
Mr Van Rompuy, who is leading the negotiations, has told national delegations they must at least come to agreement on the foreign policy post at the summit, since the candidate will also be a member of the new European Commission.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the presumptive commission president, needs to have all 28 commissioners in place before the summer break so their confirmation hearings can begin in September. Although EU treaties require only a weighted majority of prime ministers to select Ms Ashton’s replacement, Mr Van Rompuy has told delegations he hopes to achieve consensus.

If Ms Mogherini is blocked, the two candidates seen as hardliners on Russia – Poland’s Radoslaw Sikorski and Sweden’s Carl Bildt – are likely to be ruled out as well, diplomats said. That would leave Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva, the EU’s humanitarian aid commissioner and a World Bank veteran, as a possible consensus figure.

Financial Times