No longer will U.S. Presidents be able to say that in crisis they don't know whom to phone in Europe. The European Union has selected Herman van Rompuy, Belgium's premier, to become the bloc's first President. A favourite for the job, he outgunned Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker and British hopeful former premier Tony Blair. Van Rompuy is joined by Britain's Lady Ashton, who will become the EU's first Foreign Minister. Although a quiet personality from one of Europe's smallest countries, van Rompuy is credited with being a popular new premier in divided Belgium. But  while Europe may have found its tape, Belgium's problems may only just have begun.

In a recent edition of Radio ORLA's London Bridge, Labour Friends of Poland secretary Wiktor Moszczynnski said that Poland's premier Donald Tusk had not backed Blair for the role even if relations with the Labour government are sound. "It is true that Tusk indicated he preferred a candidate for the EU Presidency from a smaller country," Mosczynski said.