European Union leaders are expected to hold an informal discussion tomorrow on who should become the union's first long-term president, a post that is to be created under the Lisbon Treaty.
The president of the Council of EU leaders will be picked unanimously for a two-and-a-half-year term, strengthening the current system of a six-month presidency that member states hold in turn.
This will happen only if the Czech Republic ratifies the treaty. The other 26 EU countries have done so.
Among the possible contenders mentioned in the media or discussed by diplomats and analysts in Brussels is former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Other candidates include Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, former former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, former British prime minister Tony Blair, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Tapio Lipponen and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
Reuters