BRUSSELS, March 23: The European Union appears set to back Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank despite an initial cool response to the controversial US nomination, key leaders said Wednesday. A growing consensus emerged at an EU summit that the US deputy defense secretary, a key architect of the US-led war in Iraq, would be an acceptable choice for Europe to lead the key global development-funding institution. EU finance ministers want him to come to Brussels before his appointment is confirmed at the end of the month, to explain his position on issues such as debt relief. On Tuesday several called him a “serious candidate” for the job.
But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday he believed that Europe would not block Wolfowitz’s path to the job. “His nomination will not fail because of Germany,” Schroeder said.
“And I have the impression that it will not fail due to the other countries in Europe,” he added.
US President George W. Bush’s surprise nomination of his close ally for the World Bank top job prompted a less than overwhelming welcome from some EU capitals, while aid groups voiced open dismay.
Schroeder said however that there was no reason to suggest Wolfowitz would fail to take into consideration a wide range of concerns if he were confirmed in the post.
“I also make the point that there have been positive surprises when someone has come into office,” Schroeder told an end-of-summit press conference.
“When someone comes into a new job, they have the opportunity to do their job according not only to what they themselves want, but also according to the expectations of others.”
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw took a similar line, saying most people will be “pleasantly surprised” if Wolfowitz becomes president of the World Bank.
“Paul Wolfowitz is a very distinguished and experienced international public servant,” Straw told BBC radio from Brussels.
“If his nomination is approved, we will happily work with him,” he said. “People will be pleasantly surprised by this man.
“He was widely regarded as one of the best ever American ambassadors in Indonesia, and somebody who helped to lead the move towards increasing democracy in that country,” Straw said.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Cowen agreed that Europe will back the US official. “The real politik of the situation is that in all likelihood Mr Wolfowitz will be appointed as chairman of the Bank,” he said.
One idea circulating in Brussels is that, in exchange for a conciliatory approach to Wolfowitz’s nomination, the EU will seek US support for Frenchman Pascal Lamy’s bid to be the next head of the World Trade Organization.
Since his nomination, Wolfowitz has sought to appease his critics by pledging that he will be nobody’s stooge.
“If I am chosen to be the president then I would view my job as trying to pull together the strongest possible consensus to get the thing done,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper last week.
Wolfowitz described the World Bank’s mission to reduce global poverty as “one of the greatest moral challenges of our time”, while also stressing the importance of fighting corruption and promoting transparency.—AFP
