Word: britain
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...just very sad to see Britain, so important in Europe, just cutting itself out from the rest and disappearing from the radar," Lellouche told the Guardian, describing the effort as "pathetic" and likening the Tories' Europe hostility to autism. "They have one line, and they just repeat one line. It is a very bizarre sense of autism...
...faulted Cameron's decision earlier this year to withdraw the Tories from the ruling center-right European Peoples' Party group in the European Parliament in favor of right-wing partners who are accused of being anti-Semitic and homophobic. He also warned that if a new Conservative government in Britain fulfilled its anti-European campaign promises next year, it would weaken and isolate Britain, not reinforce it. "They have essentially castrated your U.K. influence in the European Parliament," Lellouche said in the interview. "Go away for two to three years, in your political economic situation you're going...
Such raw commentary from France's top Europe diplomat understandably raised hackles in Britain - as well as eyebrows in France. The uproar led Lellouche's spokesman to suggest that his comments had been poorly translated (a feeble dodge once the Guardian noted that the interview had been conducted in English). Still later, Lellouche, who is perfectly fluent in English, explained that he had used terms like "autism" and "pathetic" in a flippant, colloquial French manner. By the end of last week, however, Lellouche took a significant step back, calling himself "the most Anglophile politician" in France and saying that...
Lellouche's status as an unabashed Anglophile and ardent ally of both Britain and the U.S. is well-known in France, which makes his outburst all the more surprising. He was one of the few French politicians to back the U.S.- and Britain-led war in Iraq, and he has long championed both countries' relatively pro-Israel positions in the Middle East. A foreign policy wonk and NATO enthusiast, Lellouche has become a familiar figure in London, Washington and New York over the years, huddling with British and American politicians to influence decision-making on both sides of the Atlantic...
...comments - although bombastic - hardly misinterpreted the ferocious hostility that the Tories have toward Europe, which most of the E.U. views with revulsion and disdain. Still, as French centrist European parliamentarian Mireille de Sarnez points out, insulting the Conservative position is counterproductive. (Read "Q&A with David Cameron: Why Britain Needs a 'Compassionate Conservative...