FT.com - Europe still sees US as greatest threat to stability - by Tom Thornhill

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Europe still sees US as greatest threat to stability - by Tom Thornhill

Europeans remain deeply suspicious of US foreign policy in spite of President George W. Bush’s concerted attempts since the start of his second term to improve transatlantic relations. In a Harris opinion poll, published on the eve of Mr Bush’s latest visit to Europe this week, 36 per cent of respondents identify the US as the greatest threat to global stability.The poll, conducted in association with the FT, questioned a representative sample of 5,000 people in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain on a range of issues. Thirty per cent of respondents named Iran as the greatest threat to global stability, with 18 per cent selecting China.

European leaders are expected to call on Mr Bush to close the detention centre at Guantánamo bay in Cuba, where three prisoners recently killed themselves. Ursula Plassnik, Austria’s foreign minister, who is one of the summit’s hosts, said last week there was “no doubt” that the issue would be raised. “Nobody can be placed in a legal vacuum,” Ms Plassnik said. “This does not correspond to our understanding of human rights.”