UK should be ‘at the heart of Europe’ says Pöttering

The UK should play a role 'at the heart of Europe'. That was one of the messages European Parliament's President Hans-Gert Pöttering took with him on a two-day visit to the UK, February 2008, during which he had an audience with the Queen and talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He gave a speech at the London School of Economics where he made a plea for intercultural dialogue as a tool for improving understanding between different cultures and religions and avoiding a so-called 'Clash of Civilisations'.