Daniel Cohn-BenditSe även: Joschka Fischer -
Marit Paulsen
DN, Ingrid Hedström Cohn-Bendit Campaign for the presidency of the Commission The French Green Member of the Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit announced on Monday morning that he was the Green's official candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission, which needs according to him "a combat president, in this combat period". Although Mr Cohn-Bendit admits he will not be the future president of the Commission, as "the Greens will not be the strongest force at the European elections", he officially announced his candidature early ahead of the 2004 renewal of the Commission in order to oblige the other European parties to spark a debate and to make a real "European campaign with a European objective", he explained to RTL. "If I start early, I have a program. I can oblige the Christian Democrats, the Socialists, and the Conservatives to present candidates and thus force everybody to talk about Europe and not make another French campaign in France, German campaign in Germany, and so on,” he added. Mr Cohn-Bendit, a former personality involved in the 1968 revolt in France, explained that he is a candidate for the leadership of the European Commission because he thinks the European Commission needs a combat president, in this combat situation, in order to show the European specificity, vis-à-vis America, for example."
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