The Guardian: Blair-Bush ties hamper Europe, says Schröder - by Jes Smee

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Blair-Bush ties hamper Europe, says Schröder - by Jes Smee

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has written a damning critique of Tony Blair's special relationship with the United States, saying it hampered Britain's links with Europe.In his memoirs, Decisions: My Life in Politics, which were launched yesterday, Mr Schröder examines Mr Blair's relationship with George Bush and attempts to divine the motivation behind it. "The British special relationship to America weighs on the European-focused future of the country," he writes. "More than others, Britain is prepared to anticipate American wishes and turn them into European political issues.

"I don't rule out that [Mr Blair's] stance could have been motivated by internal politics, driven by the aim of winning British-US relations back from the Conservatives, who made it their terrain during the Thatcher-Reagan era", Mr Schröder said.