01. 09. 10. - 12:00

Obama does not care about Europe, says Prodi

Former European Commission (EC) president Romano Prodi has caused controversy by claiming US President Barack Obama did not care about Europe.

The ex EC boss hit out at the US president today (Weds) saying: "He doesn’t care about Europe, he doesn’t phone (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel and (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy either. And this is a historic mistake."

Prodi also slammed the German government over its hesitation when EU leaders met to rescue debt-ridden Greece earlier this year. He said the issue would have been solved "in no time" without May’s provincial elections in the German State of North-Rhine Westphalia.

Left-leaning Prodi also said: "A Chinese minister recently told me: ‘I don’t understand you Europeans. You got so many elections and never think on a long-term basis. I worry a lot about the future of your democracy.’ – That’s a funny thing to say for a Chinese, isn’t it?"

The former Italian Prime Minister further claimed Germany was strong enough to lead Europe economically, but failed to understand why it was not big enough to dominate the world.

But he added that in his opinion the European Union (EU) had not yet missed its chance to prove its leadership abilities.

Speaking to Austrian daily Die Presse, he defended European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

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