Poor Tony Blair – sabotaged by his own countryman. Just weeks ago, Mr Blair looked like the frontrunner to be president of the European Union. But now William Hague, Britain's shadow foreign secretary, has let the rest of Europe know that the opposition Conservative party would regard his appointment as a “hostile gesture”. Since the Tories and Mr Hague are likely to be in government by the middle of next year, after a British general election, their views have real weight. Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says: “On my travels around Europe . . . I have found that Hague's comments have made a huge impact.” Mr Blair's candidacy has been badly damaged.
可怜的托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)遭到自己同胞的攻击。就在数周前，布莱尔似乎还是欧盟(EU)主席的热门人选，但现在英国影子内阁外交大臣威廉•黑格(William Hague)已经昭告欧洲其它所有国家，称反对党保守党将把对布莱尔的任命视为“敌意举动”。鉴于保守党和黑格在明年年中大选后可能上台组阁，他们的观点颇具分量。智库机构欧洲改革中心(Centre for European Reform)主任查尔斯•格兰特(Charles Grant)表示：“我在欧洲各地行走期间……发现黑格的言论产生了巨大的影响。”布莱尔的候选人形象已经遭到严重破坏。