Summit in doubt

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero arrives in Washington on Wednesday for a two-day visit to the US in the wake of the announcement that President Barack Obama would not participate in the annual EU-US summit.

Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is scheduled to host the summit with US and EU leaders on May 24-25.

The United States said on Tuesday that it was in touch with the Spanish government after it voiced disappointment over Obama's decision to skip the Madrid summit.

"Obviously, there's been some disappointment expressed by the government of Spain, and we understand that and... we'll be working with them on that," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

The White House announced on Monday that Obama would not travel to the summit in the Spanish capital after a year of frenzied travel.

US presidential aides pointed out that Obama traveled to Europe no fewer than six times last year, most recently to the Copenhagen climate summit.

Some reports suggest that Obama’s decision not to come to the summit owes partly to the upheaval caused by the Lisbon Treaty which came into effect on December 1. The treaty has reportedly triggered confusion over who the US president should meet as it created the key posts of EU Council president and foreign policy chief.

Decision not a ‘snub'

However, the EU's top diplomat has rejected suggestions that Obama's decision not to attend an EU-US summit was a snub, saying a new date in November was already being considered.

Catherine Ashton, the bloc's foreign policy chief, described it as no more than "a logistical problem."

"I knew about the possibility that President Obama would not be able to make that date," she said, adding that the White House was "looking for another date" for the summit.

Summit a priority for Spain

Obama's decision comes as a blow to the Zapatero, who had made the summit a priority of his country's six months at the helm of the EU's rotating presidency.

Reports said Zapatero was not scheduled to meet Obama, but may have a chance to speak with him at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, where the Spanish prime minister is to give a Bible reading.

The developments are also being seen as a setback to Brussels as the new president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, has yet to formally meet Obama.

The European Union and the US have held annual meetings since 1997.

rb/AFP/AP
Editor: Rob Turner