布莱尔积极活动竞选欧盟主席

　　Tony Blair, the former UK premier, has begun contacting European Union leaders in his campaign to become the bloc's first full-time president, EU government sources said yesterday.
　　欧盟(EU)政府消息来源昨日表示，英国前首相托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)为了当上欧盟首位全职主席，已经开始接触欧盟各国领导人。

　　As Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, became the final EU leader yesterday to sign the Lisbon treaty, which creates the role of president, it emerged that Mr Blair pressed his candidacy in telephone calls last weekend to Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, a senior London official said.
　　随着捷克总统瓦茨拉夫•克劳斯(Vaclav Klaus)昨日成为最后一位签署创设了主席职位的《里斯本条约》(Lisbon treaty)的欧盟领导人，伦敦一位高级官员表示，布莱尔上周末给法国总统尼古拉•萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)和德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)打电话，希望他们支持由他出任主席。

　　Mr Blair's decision to raise the tempo of his unofficial campaign was made in the face of mounting evidence that a majority of EU governments would prefer the job to go to a relatively low-profile figure from a smaller country than the UK.
　　在布莱尔加快其非正式竞选的节奏之际，有越来越多的迹象表明，大部分欧盟政府倾向于将这份职位交给一位相对低调、来自比英国小的国家的人士。

　　That points to the choice of a leader such as Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium's prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, his Dutch counterpart, or Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's premier, diplomats and independent EU analysts said.
　　外交官和欧盟独立分析师表示，这意味着他们会选择比利时首相赫尔曼•范隆普(Herman Van Rompuy)、荷兰首相鲍肯内德(Jan Peter Balkenende)或者卢森堡首相让-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)这类领导人。

　　With no clear frontrunner among the candidates from smaller countries, and with many national leaders unwilling to show their hand too soon, Mr Blair's candidacy may still have life in it, they said.
　　他们表示，由于较小国家的候选人中尚未涌现明显的领先者，加之许多国家领导人不愿太早表态，布莱尔的候选人资格可能仍有生机。

　　“Blair's decision to get out and make his pitch directly to the EU leaders is playing an important role in building momentum,” the London official told the Financial Times.
　　上述伦敦官员告诉英国《金融时报》：“布莱尔采取主动、直接游说欧盟领导人的决定，对于营造势头正起到重要作用。”

　　“The issue for Sarkozy and Merkel is that while some people in their camps may have doubts about TB, there is no other serious rival candidate.”
　　“萨科齐和默克尔所面临的问题是，尽管他们阵营中有些人可能对布莱尔存有疑虑，但迄今没有涌现任何其他认真的竞选对手。”

　　The final decision rests with the EU's 27 heads of state and government and is expected to be made at a special summit this month.
　　最终决定将取决于欧盟27国政府首脑；预计该决定将在本月的一次特别峰会上做出。
　　
　　译者/董琴