The Circus in Kaliningrad

French arrogance sans frontieres strikes again. According to Liberation, French President Jacques Chirac was cracking jokes about the British food and agriculture during the summit in Kaliningrad. This summit was bizarre enough without the French ‘sense of humour’.

The venue was a former Prussian town, Königsberg, which was taken from the Germans after the Second World War. The summit was mostly about a Putin’s attempt to ensure existence of the Kaliningrad enclave unhindered by the strict EU border rules applied by the freshmen - the neighbouring Poles and Lithuanians. But the two were not invited so one can only assume the Russian tzar is hopeful the French and German EU-emperors will sort them out. Schroeder and Chirac happily accepted the role what speaks volumes about how they perceive the EU. Let us see what else was funny.

"The only thing they (the English) have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow," said Chirac to Putin’s and Schroeder’s amusement. We are all so proud of the French agriculture. After all we are all paying for it. Some 40% of the EU budget goes to the French peasants to keep up the good work. Well done lads! Pity your resources could be put into more cost-effective use elsewhere. And our food could be cheaper too. It got even better: "You can’t trust people (the English) who cook as badly as that".

It has not been said if Gerhard Schroeder got the joke. The German cabbage-sausage cuisine isn’t exactly renowned for its opulence and the Germans did invade France twice. When they did it for the second time the other lot with uninspiring cuisine, the Russians, already had a pact with the aggressor so I am not quite sure who did Chirac really refer to. I just hope the untrustworthy English (and the damn Yanks) will not interfere if these demonstrations of affection take place again so that the French and the Germans can indulge freely in their friendship.