Belgian PM in 'Harry Potter' joke smear

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Harry Potter lookalike fails to see the joke
By Charles Bremner



WITH his boyish looks, mop of hair and round glasses, Jan-Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, has often been compared to the boy wizard Harry Potter. He even posed once with a poster of Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Potter in the films.

But when he was reminded of his resemblance to J. K. Rowling’s hero after his country’s dramatic rejection of the European constitution, he couldn’t see the joke. And yesterday, after an unlikely diplomatic tiff between the neighbouring low countries, he took a call from Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian Prime Minister, who apologised for the remark.

Charging the Dutch with bungling the referendum campaign, Karel De Gucht, the sharp-tongued Belgian Foreign Minister, had told a Flemish newspaper: “Balkenende is a mix between Harry Potter and a worthy burgher, a man in whom I detect no trace of charisma.”

Brussels spent the weekend trying to soothe the feelings of its neighbour. Mr Verhofstadt telephoned Mr Balkenende to apologise and Mr De Gucht sent his excuses. However, that did not stop him expanding on his views yesterday in De Standaard, the main Flemish newspaper. He said that his remarks had been taken out of context.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1643808,00.html