Some Europeans Wary of Rice as SecState

From Euroland:

PARIS - The appointment of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state is bad news for the already fragile American-European relationship, European experts and commentators said Tuesday. Newspaper editorials and interviews with specialists in U.S.-European relations lamented the departure of Colin Powell and predicted more tension between the Bush administration and European countries as a result. In Spain, the newspaper El Pais said, "The White House has lost its moderate face," while the Kommersant newspaper in Russia went further: "Now the hawks will attack us."

"Among the most pessimistic conjectures made when George W. Bush gained re-election was that with a mandate, he'd keep Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon and nominate Rice to replace Powell," the French newspaper Le Monde said. "The second of those has now come true. ... It is bad news for European leaders."

...While Bush is broadly criticized in Europe, Powell was seen as an ally, or at least someone who understood Europe's position on issues such as Iraq and the Kyoto treaty on hydrocarbon emissions. Rice is considered a strong advocate of U.S. positions and unconcerned about European reactions.