Over at the Daily Telegraph, Daniel Hannan has penned a characteristically witty piece regarding Angela Merkel's upcoming visit to Ireland to campaign for a "yes" vote on the European Constitution Treaty of Lisbon. Merkel is rumoured to believe her visit to the country will help bolster support for the pro-Constitution lobby.
This draws my mind back to a conversation between British Lib Dem Graham Watson MEP (Chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and the German socialist Martin Schultz MEP (Chairman of the Party of European Socialists) regarding the upcoming Italian elections relayed in the EU Observer last week:
Liberal leader Graham Watson said: "I should be down there right now, campaigning for Veltroni. I hope Martin Schultz will join me."
"I told Martin a while ago, 'We should go and do something in Italy,' and he said, 'Yup!'"
Does it not speak volumes for the hubris and profound sense of self-importance felt by European "leaders" that they believe their very presence on the campaign trail is, by default, beneficial to the candidate or cause they wish to support? I can only see how finger-wagging rhetoric and condescending speeches from foreign leaders and obscure (outside of the European Parliament) MEPs can harm rather than strengthen any given political cause
Call me a cynic, but recent political history shows people most certainly do not like being told what to do.