Britain"s David Miliband has emerged as the man to beat in the race to become the EU"s first foreign-policy supremo, dpa cited a top diplomat as confirming today. But the race to become the EU"s first president is still too close to call, with the Belgian and Dutch premiers, Herman van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende, the people most touted in diplomatic circles, Poland"s ambassador to the EU, Jan Tombinski, told journalists. "The name of David Miliband is the most quoted name in this (diplomatic) circle, probably for the reason that Tony Blair"s chances are going down," Tombinski said. Miliband has said that he is not available for the post and is not a candidate, a statement backed by other Labour Party leaders. The EU"s Lisbon Treaty, which is to come into force on December 1, creates the posts of president of the EU and "high representative," who serves as a member of the council of EU member states and vice- president of the EU"s executive, the European Commission. The high representative is seen as an EU foreign minister in all but name. EU leaders are expected to hold a summit next week to decide who should get the top jobs. Despite Miliband"s own comments, EU diplomats began to mention him as a possible candidate last week, alongside Italy"s former premier, Massimo D"Alema. But D"Alema is viewed with suspicion in Central and Eastern Europe because of his high-profile in Italy"s one-time Communist party. "It would be better to have a person whose authority cannot be contested because of his past party affiliations," Tombinski said. However, Poland has not ruled out any candidate from any member state for any reason, he stressed. In Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that his country would "support (D"Alema) with conviction" if the EU-wide alliance of socialists were to formalize his candidacy.
