One is clearing her head in the Alpine air, fine-tuning a campaign that should win her a second four-year term. Another has gone back to his native Lisbon to spend his sunshine rest on a big speech he hopes will earn him five more years in office.
Yet another is grappling with intimations of political mortality at home in Fife after 12 years at the top. A fellow European prime minister insists he is avoiding his usual opulent retreat, which has been soiled by seedy stories of prostitutes and pillowtalk.
These are just some of Europe’s leaders’ hopes and plans for the holiday season — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Jose Manuel Barroso of the European commission, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
In August, the big cities of Europe thin out and close down. The government machines grind away in low gear and leaders try to grab some quality family, personal or cultural time. Except that many find it impossible. Because of their workaholic habits, the exigencies of the 24-hour news cycle and the ubiquity of the mobile phone and e-mail, a crisis is always only a phone call away.
If it’s time to get away from it all, some plainly will struggle. A few leaders will manage three or four weeks, others will be lucky to muster as many days. Some will get none at all.
Pity Fredrik Reinfeldt, prime minister of Sweden, which has taken over the rotating presidency of the EU. He won’t get much of a break.
“He’s trying to have a few days off. But it’s difficult. You couldn’t really describe it as a holiday,” a Swedish government spokeswoman said.
Nonetheless, it matters that modern leaders demonstrate an aptitude not only for action, but for relaxation too. Former US president George W. Bush did not have to fake it, seeming to spend much of his time in office at his Texas ranch.
Much more of a policy wonk, US President Barack Obama will manage only a week off the US’ east coast. The photo-opportunities will focus on a carefree politician relaxing with family and friends at a Republican billionaire’s estate on Martha’s Vineyard. But at least two more houses will be needed for traveling staff.
Merkel is hiking this week in Italy after taking in the opening of the Bayreuth festival with her opera buff husband, Joachim Sauer, last weekend. Her choice of holiday is both foreign and familiar — the South Tyrol is the bit of mountainous northern Italy where the locals speak German.
She has a lot on her plate. When she gets back to her in-tray in Berlin mid-month, she will have a mere six weeks before starring in Europe’s biggest election this year, fighting for a second term. She might have been forgiven for forgoing the summer break. But in a country addicted to holidaymaking, that might have put voters off.
And if you are Berlusconi, you can choose between at least 18 personal properties. The billionaire prime minister says he is trying to redeem a tawdry image by holidaying in the Abruzzo region, devastated by April’s earthquake. Chances are he will stay away from Villa Certosa, his Sardinian estate where the poolside parties have acquired a sheen of indecency.
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