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Try Some Sushi, Jacques
More on Vladimir Putin's embarrassing no-show at Jacques Chirac's birthday feast in Riga. Turns out Chirac didn't bother telling his hosts that he'd invited Putin to his "summit within a summit" - an incredibly insensitive move, considering that Chirac's Lativan counterpart Vaira Vike-Freiberga had been refused two visas to visit Russia herself recently.
Latvian officials even considered refusing Putin a visa to attend Jacques' bash. However, other EU and NATO leaders, including Germany's Angela Merkel, began voicing their displeasure at Chirac's enterprise.
Others - including Merkel, again - made it clear they didn't want to attend, if he was trying to expand the guest list. Putin was persuaded to pull out, and the party fizzled out. Another humiliating climbdown for France, thanks to Chirac's extraordinary inability to allow events to take place without trying to hog the centre stage.
Support among French voters for Chirac's rumoured run for a third presidential term is languishing in single figures. Stunts like this will cause it to fizzle out altogether.
