Chirac to Speak for Germany at EU Summit

French President Jacques Chirac will represent Gerhard Schröder in his absence at this week's European Union summit. As Schröder returns to Berlin on Friday, Chirac will speak for Germany in an unprecedented move.

For some, it is an unprecedented and unsettling move that has sent ripples of concern through the European Union. For others, it is merely a curiosity that has generated mumbled discussions on the strangeness of it all in the corridors of power.

But whatever the standpoint, the news that French President Jacques Chirac has formally agreed to represent German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in his absence at a European summit this week will confirm that the level of relations between the two leaders and their countries is at an all-time high.

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1716_A_998157_1_A,00.html

That ought to tell that nasty little turd Tony Blair a thing or two.