Obama to skip European Union summit in Madrid

Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based research centre, said that the Obama snub "is a useful wake-up call for the EU" He said the European Union must realize "that no one will court them or have summits with them because Europe is a nice idea. They need to deliver." Mr Obama sees Europe as an important ally, but "Obama clearly has no emotional identification with Europe," Mr Grant said. "He has a cool, analytical view of allies and partners, but when the Europeans can’t provide much to help America solve global security problems, he doesn’t want to spend too much time on it."