EU summit suffers surprise White House blow

Reports says that President Barack Obama will not attend a European Union - United States summit to have been held in Spain in May 2010, dealing a further blow to the EU’s attempts to be taken seriously as a coherent force in international affairs.

Diplomats in Brussels interpreted Mr Obama’s decision as a signal to the EU as a whole that he was unwilling to cross the Atlantic to take part in summits that risked lacking substance.

PressEurop, 5.2.10: Don't count on Obama magic http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/184621-dont-count-obama-magic

BBC News, 2.2.10: Barack Obama is to skip a US-EU summit due in May http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8492820.stm

EurActiv, 2.2.10: Obama's Madrid snub exposes 'excessive' EU summitry http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/obama-s-madrid-snub-exposes-excessive-eu-summitry

BBC News, 3.2.10: EU summit scrapped after Obama 'snub' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8496798.stm

Deutsche Welle, 3.2.10: Spanish premier Zapatero visits US amid flap over Obama's no-show decision http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5205682,00.html

Daily Telegraph, 4.2.10: EU shambles over Barack Obama visit shows failure of Lisbon Treaty http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7155154/EU-shambles-over-Barack-Obama-visit-shows-failure-of-Lisbon-Treaty.html

http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/us/sum11_09/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/us/sum11_09/index_en.htm

ESO: Background information: Spanish PM accused of pushing to host EU-US summit http://www.europeansources.info/record/spanish-pm-accused-of-pushing-to-host-eu-us-summit/

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