The Fogh lifts

Proof: developed democracies are capable of coordination. Or are least they are when it comes to political appointments to head their organisations.

It appears that the next secretary-general of Nato, by tradition a European rather than American, will be Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, after Britain, France and Germany agreed to back him for the post. His supposed biggest challenger to become NATO's top diplomat, Poland's smooth-talking Oxford-educated Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, apparently prooved too alarming for the Russians. While Mr Sikorski has endeavoured to built bridges with the Kremlin in his latest role for the moderate Civic Platform-led government, he is paying the price for a previous job as Defence Minister in the much more Russophobic Law and Justice-led administration which left office in 2007, as well as Poland's decision to cooperate with the US over missile defence.

One casualty of Mr Rasmussen's probable elavation is the cause of European unity - or at least of the further integration of Denmark into the EU. Mr Rasmussen was considered a leading candidate for the first permanent President of the European Council, a position whose existence awaits the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Rasmussen has presumably decided that he cannot wait forever, and now won't endeavour to carry Denmark into the euro or abolish some of its opt-outs in a last-minute attempt to secure a reputation as a 'good European'. Set to benefit are all those undeclared candidates for the post of President of Europe - should it ever come into being - among whose numbers is apparently Britain's former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.