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The New Republic

Frenemies

The testy relationship between Obama and the EU.

Last week's U.S.-EU annual summit differed from its predecessors in ways that fuel the perception on the other side of the Atlantic that Barack Obama is just not that interested in Europe. First, there was the venue of the opening lunch: Blair House, the government's official guest house, not the usual White House. Then, there was the luncheon's host: Vice-President Joe Biden, not the president himself. And, finally, there was the time frame for discussion: European leaders only got 90 minutes of direct talks with the president instead of the customary two hours (minimum), plus a press conference.

According to European Union sources, EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso was so furious at what Brussels considered a downgrading of the summit that, at one point, he threatened not to attend the lunch at all. Click here for more.