EU ministers speak up for foreign affairs chief

CORDOBA, Spain (Reuters) - EU foreign ministers staged a show of support for foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton Friday and instead directed frustration at institutional infighting hampering a new EU diplomatic service.

Ashton, who took office in December under the EU's Lisbon reform treaty, is heading efforts to create an EU diplomatic service designed to give the bloc's 27 member states the same influence in foreign affairs as they have in trade and finance.

But member states have been at odds over how top jobs in the service are divided up and have criticised Ashton for failing to resist efforts by EU bodies, including the executive Commission, to secure key posts in the new External Action Service.

Foreign ministers said there had been strong show of support for Ashton at a meeting in the southern Spanish town of Cordoba but increasing irritation directed at the Commission, which under Lisbon treaty, is entitled to a third of the EAS posts.

"There is huge frustration among the member states that the whole issue would be steered by the Commission," Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger told reporters.

Swedish Foreign Minister Cald Bildt told Reuters there had been agreement on the need to support Ashton, who holds posts both in the Commission and in the Council of EU states.

"The feeling among the foreign ministers is that she's our representative, we want to defend her ... we see others encroaching on her so we are defending and supporting her."

WARNING OF "FOREIGN POLICY OBLIVION"

Finland's Alexander Stubb said the aim of the diplomatic service -- to give the bloc a stronger global voice -- was at risk unless Ashton was given full backing.

"There are some member states, especially on the civil servant level who are trying to pull the rug from underneath Cathy Ashton...they should look at themselves in the mirror.

"We can either establish a true European foreign policy, a true diplomatic service, and give our 100-percent support to Cathy Ashton, or we can just fall into European foreign policy oblivion," he said.

Stubb also said there was strong support in Cordoba for Ashton's work. "I would say it's unanimous," he said.

Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos said there had been a unanimous acknowledgment of Ashton's "tireless efforts."

"There was a lot of debate but I am sure her proposal on the (EAS) will be extremely well balanced and all institutions will be satisfied," he said.

Ashton told a news conference she had encouraged ministers to contribute proposals on how the EAS should work.

"It's helpful," she said. "It's a synthesis which is going to bring about the best possible service."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country has been most vocal in its criticism of Ashton's first decisions as EU foreign policy chief, said little, despite talks with Ashton earlier in the day. "There is a lot of work to do. We will discuss it now," he said.

Bildt, who wrote to Ashton last month expressing concern over how a mid-ranking Portuguese diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida, a top aide of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, was named EU Washington envoy, wrote to her again Wednesday offering advice on the EAS.

In a joint letter with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Bildt urged Ashton to ensure the service meets its aim of boosting the EU's global role.

In another letter circulated Friday, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus demanded "meaningful" representation for all EU members in the service, underscoring concerns among smaller states about access to high-profile jobs.

The EAS is expected to employ more than 3,000 diplomats and have missions in almost all countries. It was expected to be finalised by the end of April but diplomatic sources say that deadline will not be met and many issues are unresolved.

Among them are decisions about the corps' scope and structure, about funding and the sensitivity of who to appoint to the top embassies, including the missions in Beijing, New Delhi, Moscow, Brasilia and other big trading partners.

(Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Julien Toyer and Luke Baker; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)