Juncker says Sarkozy should be at Olympics opening for EU

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy should represent the European Union at the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games and European leaders should support him, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday.

Sarkozy, who takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, has so far declined to say whether he will go to the opening ceremony. He has said his decision will depend on China's efforts to resolve the crisis in Tibet.

Juncker, whom France regards as a front-runner for the new post of EU president, said events in Tibet did not justify a boycott of the opening ceremony and the EU should announce its participation before the summer.

"President Sarkozy will be the president of Europe at the time of the opening ceremony and therefore he will have made all efforts towards a unanimous decision by Europe. He will represent France and he will represent Europe," Juncker told French radio station Europe 1.

Critics in France accuse Sarkozy of sitting on the fence on the issue. Pro-Tibet campaigners have urged him to boycott the opening ceremony, while advocates of political dialogue with China say he should end the suspense and announce he will go.

"The world needs China and China needs the world, and therefore Europeans and Chinese should not avoid each other but rather talk to each other directly," Juncker said.

"The Olympic Games are going to transform China, I'm convinced of that, and therefore we have to be present," he said.

"I would not understand it if the American president went and the Russian president went and Europe were absent. We cannot leave dialogue with China to the Russians and the Americans alone."

Juncker is a centre-right politician who chairs monthly meetings of finance ministers of the 15-nation euro zone. A seasoned negotiator, he has been at the heart of every European deal since he came to power in 1995.