Belgian Herman Van Rompuy selected in a closed-door meeting to be the first permanent president of the world's largest economy and the chief representative of 500 million people.
Europe chooses a quiet president (click title to entry - thank you)
Doug Saunders
London — From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 10:45PM EST Last updated on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 2:59AM EST
...Europeans had barely finished their dinners Thursday night when they were introduced to their George Washington, the man who had been selected by the leaders of their countries in a closed-door meeting to be the first permanent president of the world's largest economy and the chief representative of 500 million people.
It was the shock of the strange. Few in Europe have heard of Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian head of government, and many were doubtless startled by what they saw: a bespectacled man whose dishevelled hair producing a mad-scientist aura, avoiding eye contact with the camera as he spoke shyly in three languages and made a most unpresidential pledge: “I will remain discreet.”...
