text: "H: Of interest Hague latest briefing hostile to Tony. Tories desperately do not want Blair there want to run their ownEuropean policy mostly anti-EU and indeed break with past and continuity on Europe. Tory Party split with anti-EUfaction dominant its base virulent and Cameron straddling as best he can. Hague leans anti-Europe. SLondon TimesOctober 22 2009`Appointing Blair as EU president will haveconsequences' warns HagueWilliam Hague's strident attack on his fellow Briton reportedly left some of the EU ambassadors baffledFrancis Elliott David Charter and Tom BaldwinWilliam Hague has been conducting a behind-the-scenes campaign to convince European ambassadors that Tony Blairwould be a bad choice for European Union president The Times has learnt. The Shadow Foreign Secretary used a lunchorganised by the Swedish presidency in London last week to lobby the most senior diplomats of the 26 other EU nationsagainst the appointment.EU leaders had hoped to choose the new president at next week's summit but the Czech Republic's last-minuteobjections to the Lisbon treaty have scuppered that. President Sarkozy of France wants a quick decision however and isunderstood to be pushing for a special one-day summit in Brussels next month to fill the new post.In making the Conservatives' case against Mr Blair Mr Hague said that while in Downing Street the former Prime Ministerhad consistently placed a higher priority on US interests than on those of Europe. Mr Hague also reminded the diplomatsof Mr Blair's actions in the run-up to the Iraq war according to one of those attending the lunch last Thursday.A claim that Mr Hague told the ambassadors that the Tories would regard Mr Blair's appointment as a ""declaration of war""by the EU was denied however. A spokesman for Mr Hague said that the phrase was ""a bit strong"". Nevertheless it wasnot disputed that Mr Hague made clear that the move would have consequences for relations between Britain andBrussels. Diplomats said that there was a ""clear mark of hostility"".""Mr Hague wanted to leave the ambassadors in no doubt that the Conservative Party is opposed to the appointment ofTony Blair as president of the European Council and [that] it would only underline the lack of accountability and legitimacyinvolved in the creation of the position in the first place"" Mr Hague's spokesman said. Mr Hague's strident attack on hisfellow Briton reportedly left some of the ambassadors baffled.Mr Hague is currently in Washington for talks with members of the Obama Administration including Hillary Clinton theSecretary of State with whom he raised the issue of the Conservatives' membership of a right-wing alliance of Europeanparties with allegedly anti-Semitic members. He accused critics of running a smear campaign against some of the groupled by Michal Kaminsky head of Poland's Law and Justice Party."