Economist: Ansip a Candidate For the President of the European Council
Posts in the EU are handed out in a method to satisfy all political parties and nations, but the Economist says the top two candidates to replace Van Rompuy have strong opponents, naming four former and current prime ministers as possible candidates to steal the job. That list, besides Ansip, includes Finland's Jyrki Katainen, Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis and Enda Kenny, the prime minister of Ireland.
Since Jean-Claude Juncker, an EPP (European People's Party) member, was named as the head of the European Commission. The next job, the head of the European Council, should go to the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Yet the main candidate, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt, is not left enough for France, the Economist said, and Denmark's position outside the Eurozone is a handicap. Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, is unpopular among southern European nations.
Ansip, who was recently named as a vice president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats - the European Parliament's fourth largest group - is in the next wave of candidates, along with Katainen, Dombrovskis and Kenny.