EU leaders to choose president and foreign minister at Brussels summit

THE political leaders of the 27 EU countries will choose a president and foreign minister behind closed doors at a summit in Brussels tonight.

Names have been floated for weeks, most have been rejected and, so far, nobody appears to have come up with the perfect duo who must reflect a balance between big and small states, north and south, socialist and conservative.

The real selection process will not begin until all 27 leaders are around the table and, for the first time, they will be forced to reveal their choices.