Back to Brussels Blog homepageUS Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just finished a question-and-answer session with a group of so-called “young Europeans” at the European Parliament in Brussels. Even though her performance lasted less than an hour, by the end she had them eating out of her hand and she received a standing ovation.
The best moment came when she caught sight of a semi-shaven man sporting an “I love Hillary” T-shirt. She said she simply had to take a question from him because of what he was wearing. The guy turned out to be an English-speaking gay rights activist from Moldova, and he wanted to know what the Obama administration would do for the world’s gays and lesbians. Putting on her best stateswoman-like face, Clinton replied: “Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy. In particular, persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something we take very seriously.” Lots of applause followed.
Clinton’s performance was brilliantly executed in that she pitched her message at exactly the level the European audience wanted. They wanted to hear an American talk like a European, and that’s what they got.
Take the battle against climate change, an area where Europe - not entirely correctly - thinks it’s leading the world and the US has been lightyears behind. “Certainly the US has been negligent in facing up to our responsibilities,” she told a Belgian questioner. “We are making up the best we can for lost time.”
Or take her answer to an Irishwoman who asked if the US found it difficult to understand the complexity of European Union institutions. Yes, she said, but “I often find Europeans confused about the way the United States government operates… Democracies must be careful that we don’t become so process-driven and overwhelmed by the procedural aspects of decision-making that we are in effect paralysed.”
That reply got a big round of applause from her audience, who appeared mostly to be brainy people working for the EU who would know all about things getting too “process-driven”.
Of course, her best line came at the start when she called Europe a “miracle” because of the way it had overcome two world wars and a century of fanaticism and put itself on the path of peaceful, prosperous integration. “Europe is enjoying its longest period of peace since Roman times,” she said, displaying a grasp of 2,000 years of history that is just the kind of thing Europeans think the average American doesn’t have a clue about.
Clinton was the highest-ranking US visitor to the European Parliament since President Ronald Reagan in 1985. It was a clever move to go there on her first trip as secretary of state to Europe. But that’s what you’d expect from such a seasoned political operative.
I have been the FT's Brussels bureau chief since September 2007 and was previously the bureau chief in Frankfurt and Rome. In this blog you'll find my thoughts on everything from the European Union's foreign and economic policies to the fortunes of its political leaders - as well as the more light-hearted aspects of life in Europe.
