Friday, June 10, 2005

FROM THE FRONT LINE

My taxi driver put the foot to the metal and blasted through the cool Belgian air; ripping up the autoroute into Europe's heart at 130 clicks.

On each side of the motorway stood armoured vehicles. Euro soldiers casually dragged on Gauloises. Some were maintaining their weapons, ready to repulse the rioting Europhiles angered at Mr Blair's betrayal.

Yes. It's blogging from the front line, sitting in a dugout across the street from Berlaymont, the centre of the great experiment. Barricades are up. There's tension in the air. Eurocrats wear dark blue bandanas, clutching AK-47s, WWI daggers, lumps of euro-concrete, shards of glass from the damaged Commission institutions.

Only the incongruous AOR ooze-ing out of speakers mounted in the ceiling betray the feel of war, nay revolution.

Vive l'Europe. Long live the Constitution. Pass me another Leffe.

:: Posted by pete @ 07:51