When personal ambition kills vision

It is time for silence and mourning after the criminal bombings in London, and also for respect and appreciation for the courageous attitude of the British. After the German Blitz (solemnly remembered a few days after the bombings), after the IRA’s bombs, Londoners have again shown that they couldn’t and wouldn’t be terrorised, the best of answers to all terrorists.

But we must look back to the strange Olympic adventure which was concluded on July 6^th, also to the glory of London. The French application for the organisation of the 2012 Olympics was eventually rejected, after having been the front runner for several months. A sense of depression pervaded French public opinion. But the shock seemed somewhat out of proportion with the stakes as the issue remains a minor one in comparison with the big crisis of our time.

Disappointment was equal in magnitude only to the propaganda lavished by the French authorities. Leftists and conservatives had found a cause commune, at the service of their direct political interests. The socialist mayor of Paris really thought he had found the ideal launch pad for his presidential primary within the socialist party; the French president saw in the 2012 Olympics a needed opportunity for positive communication after his rout in the European referendum. Not only had the politicians persuaded themselves that the 2012 Olympics had to be granted to France, but they had started to prepare themselves to reap the fruits of this success.

And there we are, overtaken by the British outsiders on the finish line. These outsiders were often at the limit of foul play, but they must have remained within the limits, since the IOC board didn’t find it useful to sanction them.

The truth is they couldn’t have succeeded without the help of French politicians. Thinking only of their own self-promotion, our great leaders have pushed our best ambassadors into the back seats. In front of the much-respected British athlete Sir Sebastian Coe, no French sport star was to be seen. One of the most recognised advocates of the French candidacy within the IOC, Michel Barnier, was evicted from his ministry of Foreign Affairs before the end of the “Paris 2012” campaign because of the post-referendum purge imposed by Jacques Chirac.

And let’s not forget the bloopers, mistakes and mishaps. Jean-Claude Killy, the triple gold medallist of the 1968 Olympics and mastermind of the Albertville Olympics, commented on the loss of the East European votes: « Our image today is one of rejection of the other, of the rich who push the poor back. We have an image of selfishness, especially in Eastern Europe, since we voted no to the European constitution. Can you expect to receive something from someone you reject? » (L’Equipe, 8^th July 2005). An anonymous French VIP of the IOC (quoted in l’Express) had an additional story: President Chirac’s declarations against the East European states during the debate about the war in Iraq cost us dearly. Most of those countries were in favour of the American policy and were fingerpointed as «not very well behaved» and as « having lost a good opportunity to remain silent » by a French president who was obviously expecting a rather subservient foreign policy from the ten new members of the European union. No wonder the 10 new countries voted for Moscow in the first round, Madrid in the second and London in the third.

Not learning from past mistakes, President Chirac derided Finnish cooking just days before the IOC was due to vote! There were several representatives of Finland in Singapore!

By contrast, Tony Blair showed many qualities over the last weeks. Not only does he give the impression of having ideas for European affairs as well as for his country, but he revealed himself as a brilliant tactician, pulling strings and mobilising energies in order to serve his political agenda. He was able for instance, with the help of his friend Bob Geldof, to give all the weight of a popular mobilisation to the cause of Africa and of the millennium objectives, which he was to promote at the G8 summit of Gleaneagles. Three days before the summit, each of the 8 leaders had had in his own country a militant rock concert with a strong participation, demanding a commitment to make the G8 summit a success!

However, the 2012 Olympics campaign could have been « a bridge too far », as it boils down to refreshing the French stereotype that « perfidious Albion » is always ready to deliver a blow under the belt to France; this is going to complicate the British tenure of the European presidency even further. The British already had to engineer the failure of the Luxembourg summit in June, as a necessary step in order to get the space to develop new ideas during the British European presidency. This failure had to be provoked by inelegant methods, going as far as to refuse the offer of the central European states to contribute to our rich economies by reducing the amount of their subventions! This Olympics filibuster may prove to have been a costly error of judgement.

We can only wish the wizard Tony Blair good success, as it would be in favour of an European rebound. But nobody will criticise Tony Blair for a lack of vision.