Man tipped to be US ambassador to EU faces block in Brussels
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The man tipped to be President Trump’s pick as US ambassador to the European Union is faced with being blocked by EU politicians.
The heads of the three main parties in the European Parliament have signed letters to the head of the European Commission and European Council calling for any nomination of Ted Malloch to be rejected.
My letter with
GuyVerhofstadt</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/JunckerEU">JunckerEU &eucopresident</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hash">#Trump</a>'s possible new Ambassador to the EU <a href="https://t.co/rPnC6j60ZK">pic.twitter.com/rPnC6j60ZK</a></p>— Manfred Weber (ManfredWeber) February 2, 2017
Malloch is under fire after saying that in a previous diplomatic posting he “helped bring down the Soviet Union, so maybe there’s another union that needs a little taming”.
One European Commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, also said it was “insulting” to compare the European Union with the USSR, saying he had experienced first-hand life in a gulag.
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— Vytenis Andriukaitis (@V_Andriukaitis) January 30, 2017astroehlein</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jonwalker121">jonwalker121 Comparing EU w USSR is an insult. I have experienced life in Gulag first hand. I can tell the difference.
Trump’s reported choice for ambassador was a big supporter of Brexit and has also criticised the European Commission President.
He is reported as saying that Jean-Claude Juncker was “a very adequate mayor of some city in Luxembourg and maybe he should go back and do that again.”