European governments — with the exception of Britain — reacted coolly on Thursday to the prospect of Paul Wolfowitz, the neoconservative advocate of war in Iraq, becoming president of the World Bank.
But diplomats said it was unlikely that Europe, which holds about 30% of the seats on the bank’s board, would seek to strain transatlantic relations by blocking him.
United States President George Bush put Wolfowitz forward on Wednesday, only a week after he nominated another neocon, John Bolton, as the next US ambassador to the United Nations. The French and German governments were unenthusiastic about the prospect but are reluctant to oppose him because they are in the process of rebuilding relations with Washington after the war in Iraq.
”The enthusiasm in old Europe is not exactly overwhelming,” Germany’s Development Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said.
The most effusive welcome came from Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. But the International Development Secretary, Hillary Benn, was more circumspect.
Benn said: ”I note the USA’s nomination of Mr Wolfowitz with interest. We wait to see if there are any other candidates, as there is of course a process that has to be gone through in which the views of developing countries are important.”
A spokesperson for the European commission, Claude Veron-Reville, said the EU would seek to hold talks with Washington about the nomination.
The reaction of the French government was muted. An Elysée Palace spokesperson said France would ”examine the candidacy in the spirit of friendship that exists between France and the United States and with regard to the capital mission that the World Bank fulfils in the service of development”. – Guardian Unlimited Â