Brussels, 30/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Colin Powell appealed to the Belgian minister of foreign affairs Louis Michel last Friday to protest against the ideas expressed by the Belgian minister of defence, André Flahaut, in an interview in the weekly magazine Humo. Mr Flahaut (to whom the Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstatdt has written informing him that his declarations were "inopportune on the behalf of an ally"), said that Washington was opposed to a European defence because it was contrary to the interests of the US weapons industry. Mr Flahout also asserted that, "the Americans spend so much money on their army that it can no longer function efficiently. When they have to move 15 men from point A to B, they use three aeroplanes to be sure that it works. We use one plane or better still, we at first check whether we can borrow one from one from one of our allies".
European elections 2004