For those of you subjected to the unfortunate idea of having Tony Blair as first president of the EU you’ll pleased to know the war criminal never came close.
The European Union has its first permanent council president — and its not Tony Blair. Instead, EU leaders have chosen Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy for the top job. His chief virtues? He’s from a small state actually committed to the European project (unlike the UK), and he’s a consensus politician, rather than a divisive autocrat (unlike Blair). Plus of course he’s not a war criminal — always a bonus when you’re trying to run a state committed to peace and international law.