Independent
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
18 February 2005
President George Bush is "warm", "spontaneous" and better in private than in his "rigid" television appearances, according to Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president,who has embarked on a charm offensive ahead of the US President's visit this weekend.
Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Mr Barroso, who is playing a role in an unprecedented EU push to patch up the relationship between Europe and Washington, underlined his desire for the visit to become a symbol of transatlantic rapprochement.
Asked whether a sceptical European public could be won over to the US President, Mr Barroso - who as Portuguese prime minister hosted the Azores summit between Mr Bush and the three EU countries which backed the Iraq war - said: "I think President Bush is much better on personal contacts than on television.
"I could say that to him. He's a warm person, spontaneous, as far as I am concerned," Mr Barroso said. "I think that the chemistry with him is much better in the personal contact than in television, where sometimes he appears too rigid - at least for European audiences. He appears too rigid, that's true.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=612163