Germans Lift Block to Blair's E.U. Presidency

Berlin — Tony Blair's hopes of becoming the European Union's first full-time president rose significantly last night as Germany softened its opposition to his appointment.

Berlin denied reports that it regarded Mr. Blair as unsuitable for the powerful new role, or that it was involved in an "anti-Blair pact" with other E.U. nations.

Mr. Blair is known to be interested in taking on the presidency if enough member states decide that they want him to — and if the role, which is still being defined, turns out to be suitably challenging.

The former prime minister has received strong backing from the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who called him a "smart" candidate. Gordon Brown has said he would also support him if he made himself available.

Up until now, however, Mr. Blair's allies believed that the Germany Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was strongly opposed because the German people would not accept an E.U. president who had supported war in Iraq. Also, she was said to oppose the first president coming from a country that was not in the euro, or part of the Schengen open-borders agreement.