Blair-Bush Ties Hamper Europe, Says Schröder

Taken from the Guardian, UK, October 26, 2006
By Jess Smee

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Photograph: Getty Images Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has written a damning critique of Tony Blair's special relationship with the United States, saying it hampered Britain's links with Europe.

In his memoirs, Decisions: My Life in Politics, which were launched yesterday, Mr Schröder examines Mr Blair's relationship with George Bush and attempts to divine the motivation behind it.

"The British special relationship to America weighs on the European-focused future of the country," he writes. "More than others, Britain is prepared to anticipate American wishes and turn them into European political issues.

"I don't rule out that [Mr Blair's] stance could have been motivated by internal politics, driven by the aim of winning British-US relations back from the Conservatives, who made it their terrain during the Thatcher-Reagan era."

When he became German leader, Mr Schröder and Mr Blair bonded over similarities in their centre-left politics. In 1999 they even wrote a paper together, Europe: The Third Way - Die neue Mitte, which heralded a new era of social democracy.

But their unity did not last, Mr Schröder said. He described how initial high hopes for a triangular relationship between Germany, France and Britain soon proved illusory and Mr Blair's position on Europe turned out to be a "big disappointment"."In the foreseeable future, Britain will not give Europe any momentum," he said. "Quite the opposite, the country will continue to protect its role as a transatlantic mediator, even if that is to the cost of the European decision-making process."

He described how signals from Washington that they were "not amused" by a European bid to hammer out its own security policy prompted Britain to swiftly distance itself from the plans.

Tensions between London and Berlin peaked after Mr Schröder's outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq - a stance which drove German-US relations to their lowest point since the second world war, but also helped him retain power. "The British premier, certainly a man of strong moral convictions and by no means war-hungry, is paying a high personal price for this engagement," he wrote.

But he said that despite polarised positions on the Iraq war, they were able to maintain a working relationship based on "friendly cooperation".

During his leadership, Mr Schröder grew increasingly forthright about Britain. In 2005, during his last EU summit before handing over power, he told reporters Britain's free-market economic and social system was "certainly not" a model for the whole EU, saying continental Europeans wanted to preserve their social systems.

Excerpts of the memoirs have already caused a stir at home and abroad, most notably with his criticism of Mr Bush's "God-fearing" politics, where he described how the US president made important decisions on the basis of his religious faith.

Both Bill Clinton and Mr Bush found that their national interests were best served by a fragmented Europe, Mr Schröder commented, which gave way to America's "divide and rule" approach to Europe, especially in relation to military, trade and economic affairs.

"But the United States could always count on its special relationship with Britain," he wrote.