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Who's that next to the Maltese PM?: John Prescott's back-row position
in a VE-Day photocall this week was seen as a snub to Britain. But how
did the Israeli president feel about being stuck behind the president
of Kazakhstan?
Richard Jinman and Leo Hickma
The Guardian - United Kingdom
May 11, 2005
It is a bit like organising a particularly big dinner party. But
instead of the usual girl-boy-girl-boy rule, the seating plan is
decided by the relative standing of the guests. The placement of
dignitaries at the VE Day commemoration in Moscow may look rather
haphazard - that's poor John Prescott rubbing shoulders with the
former presidents of Poland and Cyprus in the wilderness of the back
row - but in fact there is a strict protocol at work. In diplomatic,
as in dinner party circles, it is known as placement, and it has
almost certainly determined the standing arrangements here.
The former foreign secretary Robin Cook, a veteran of photocalls of
this kind, offers an explanation of the rules: "Heads of state go
first, then heads of government, and representatives of heads of
government come third, which is why John [Prescott] is where he is. As
the representative of a head of government, that's understandably why
he's ended up where he did."
Heads of state certainly occupy the prime positions at the VE Day
commemoration. The host, President Putin, has claimed a central
position that allows him to trade bons mots with France's president
Chirac and give the cold shoulder to President Bush to his left. But
still in the front row, if slightly further away from the spotlight,
we have heads of government including Italy's prime minister, Silvio
Berlusconi, Japan's PM Junichiro Koizumi and Jean-Claude Juncker,
prime minister of tiny Luxembourg. There is one empty place in the
front row, next to India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Perhaps it
was reserved for Mr Blair, who would have certainly have made the
front row if he had attended the event, according to one former
ambassador who asked not to be named.
It all sounds relatively simple compared with seating arrangements at
the pope's funeral, where the world's presidents were seated together
at the front of the VIPs' enclosure, in alphabetical order, by country
and in French. Thus Mr Bush of the Etats-Unis was placed next to M
Jacques Chirac of France. The two leaders who clashed bitterly over
the Iraq war were separated by their wives. They shook hands. Further
back, the prime ministers were seated more arcanely by date order of
their country's official recognition of the Vatican. This left Tony
Blair and wife Cherie somewhere near the back.
What is often misunderstood, says Cook, is that the size of a nation
is not generally supposed to be significant in events such as
this. "The overwhelming protocol is that you don't distinguish between
the size of a country, just on the status of the person from there who
is representing it," he says. "When you stop to think about it, it's
the only way you can work it, that every sovereign state has equal
status. Though of course in the real world it doesn't work that way."
Indeed it does not. The positioning of the presidents of Finland,
Azerbaijan, Austria and South Korea in the second row suggests the
heads-of-state-come-first rule has not been adhered to in this case.
Once the heads of state and heads of government have been accounted
for, things get "a lot more complicated", according to the former
ambassador. "A deputy prime minister should rank above a foreign
minister, for example, but there are sometimes other considerations."
Richard Muir, former ambassador to Kuwait and Oman, offers a different
explanation for Mr Prescott's apparently lowly positioning. "These
things are normally done by the protocol people, and that will then be
submitted to the political chiefs to look at. The UK system would be
to do this very carefully and in advance. In Russia there well may be
much more ad-hockery," he says. "I think in countries less well
organised than the UK there is always an element of muddle to all
this. It may well be the 'cock-up' theory rather than a conspiracy at
work."
Key to heads of state:
Back row (left to right): Glafcos Clerides, former president of
Cyprus; General Wojciech Jaruzelski, former president of Poland;
Imants Freibergs, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president of Latvia; John
Prescott, British deputy prime minister; Peter Cartwright; Silvia
Cartwright, governor-general, New Zealand; Mirela Moisia; Alfred
Moisiu, president of Alb-ania; Drogica Paravac; Borislav Paravac,
presidency member, Bosnia & Herze-govina; Lawrence Gonzi, prime
minister of Malta; Samuel Schmid, president of Switzerland;
Nzadsurengiin Oyunbileg, wife of Mongolian president; Natsagiyn
Bagabandi, president of Mongolia; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister
of Turkey; Traian Basescu, president of Romania; Livia Klaus; Vaclav
Klaus, president of Czech Republic; unknown
Third row: Branko Crvenkovski, president of Macedonia; Yasmina
Crvenkovski; Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister of the Netherlands;
Herman de Croo, chairman of house of representatives,
Belgium; Anders Fogh Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark; Bertie
Ahern, prime minister of Ireland; Halldor Asgrimsson, prime minister
of Iceland; Bjorg Bondevik; Kjell Magne Bondevik, prime minister,
Norway; Dalma Madl; Ferenc Madl, president of Hungary; Moshe Katzav,
president of Israel; Gila Katsav; Jolanta Kwasniewski; Aleksander
Kwasniewski, president of Poland; Michael Jeffery, governor general of
Australia; Photini Michaelides, wife of Cypriot president; Tassos
Papadopoulos, president of Cyprus; unknown; Jose Socrates, prime
minister of Portugal; Stjepan Mesic, president of Croatia; Janez
Drnovsek, president of Slovenia
Second row: Karolos Papoulias, president of Greece; Goran Persson,
prime minister of Sweden; Svetozar Marovic, president of Serbia and
Montenegro; Djina Marovic; Dr Pentti Arajarvi; Tarja Kaarina Halonen,
president of the Republic of Finland; Kurmanbek Bakiyev, acting
president of the Kyrgyz Republic; Maryan Bakiyev; Bella Kocharian;
Robert Kocharian, president of the republic of Armenia; Nursultan
Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan; Ilhan Aliev, president of
Azerbaijan; Mehriban Aliyeva; Emomali Rahmanov, president of
Taijikistan; Roh Moo-hyun, president of South Korea; Kwon Yang-suk;
Zorka Parvanov; Georgi Parvanov, president of the Republic of
Bulgaria; Heinz Fischer, president of Austria; King Mihai I of Romania
Front row: Margarita Barroso; Jose Manuel Borroso, president of the EU
Commission; Jean-Claude Junker, president of Luxembourg; Junchiro
Koizumu, president of Japan; Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of
Italy; John Saul; Adrienne Clarkson, governor general of Canada;
Gerhard Schroeder, chancellor of Germany; Doris Schroeder; Jacques
Chirac, president of France; Lyudmila Putin; Vladimir Putin, president
of Russia; George Bush, president of the USA; Laura Bush; Hu Jintao,
president of the People's Republic of China; Manmohan Singh, prime
minister of India; Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, president of Spain;
Sonsoles Zapatero; Kofi Annan, UN secretary general
No, after you . . . all friends after the shoot
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
in a VE-Day photocall this week was seen as a snub to Britain. But how
did the Israeli president feel about being stuck behind the president
of Kazakhstan?
Richard Jinman and Leo Hickma
The Guardian - United Kingdom
May 11, 2005
It is a bit like organising a particularly big dinner party. But
instead of the usual girl-boy-girl-boy rule, the seating plan is
decided by the relative standing of the guests. The placement of
dignitaries at the VE Day commemoration in Moscow may look rather
haphazard - that's poor John Prescott rubbing shoulders with the
former presidents of Poland and Cyprus in the wilderness of the back
row - but in fact there is a strict protocol at work. In diplomatic,
as in dinner party circles, it is known as placement, and it has
almost certainly determined the standing arrangements here.
The former foreign secretary Robin Cook, a veteran of photocalls of
this kind, offers an explanation of the rules: "Heads of state go
first, then heads of government, and representatives of heads of
government come third, which is why John [Prescott] is where he is. As
the representative of a head of government, that's understandably why
he's ended up where he did."
Heads of state certainly occupy the prime positions at the VE Day
commemoration. The host, President Putin, has claimed a central
position that allows him to trade bons mots with France's president
Chirac and give the cold shoulder to President Bush to his left. But
still in the front row, if slightly further away from the spotlight,
we have heads of government including Italy's prime minister, Silvio
Berlusconi, Japan's PM Junichiro Koizumi and Jean-Claude Juncker,
prime minister of tiny Luxembourg. There is one empty place in the
front row, next to India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Perhaps it
was reserved for Mr Blair, who would have certainly have made the
front row if he had attended the event, according to one former
ambassador who asked not to be named.
It all sounds relatively simple compared with seating arrangements at
the pope's funeral, where the world's presidents were seated together
at the front of the VIPs' enclosure, in alphabetical order, by country
and in French. Thus Mr Bush of the Etats-Unis was placed next to M
Jacques Chirac of France. The two leaders who clashed bitterly over
the Iraq war were separated by their wives. They shook hands. Further
back, the prime ministers were seated more arcanely by date order of
their country's official recognition of the Vatican. This left Tony
Blair and wife Cherie somewhere near the back.
What is often misunderstood, says Cook, is that the size of a nation
is not generally supposed to be significant in events such as
this. "The overwhelming protocol is that you don't distinguish between
the size of a country, just on the status of the person from there who
is representing it," he says. "When you stop to think about it, it's
the only way you can work it, that every sovereign state has equal
status. Though of course in the real world it doesn't work that way."
Indeed it does not. The positioning of the presidents of Finland,
Azerbaijan, Austria and South Korea in the second row suggests the
heads-of-state-come-first rule has not been adhered to in this case.
Once the heads of state and heads of government have been accounted
for, things get "a lot more complicated", according to the former
ambassador. "A deputy prime minister should rank above a foreign
minister, for example, but there are sometimes other considerations."
Richard Muir, former ambassador to Kuwait and Oman, offers a different
explanation for Mr Prescott's apparently lowly positioning. "These
things are normally done by the protocol people, and that will then be
submitted to the political chiefs to look at. The UK system would be
to do this very carefully and in advance. In Russia there well may be
much more ad-hockery," he says. "I think in countries less well
organised than the UK there is always an element of muddle to all
this. It may well be the 'cock-up' theory rather than a conspiracy at
work."
Key to heads of state:
Back row (left to right): Glafcos Clerides, former president of
Cyprus; General Wojciech Jaruzelski, former president of Poland;
Imants Freibergs, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president of Latvia; John
Prescott, British deputy prime minister; Peter Cartwright; Silvia
Cartwright, governor-general, New Zealand; Mirela Moisia; Alfred
Moisiu, president of Alb-ania; Drogica Paravac; Borislav Paravac,
presidency member, Bosnia & Herze-govina; Lawrence Gonzi, prime
minister of Malta; Samuel Schmid, president of Switzerland;
Nzadsurengiin Oyunbileg, wife of Mongolian president; Natsagiyn
Bagabandi, president of Mongolia; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister
of Turkey; Traian Basescu, president of Romania; Livia Klaus; Vaclav
Klaus, president of Czech Republic; unknown
Third row: Branko Crvenkovski, president of Macedonia; Yasmina
Crvenkovski; Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister of the Netherlands;
Herman de Croo, chairman of house of representatives,
Belgium; Anders Fogh Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark; Bertie
Ahern, prime minister of Ireland; Halldor Asgrimsson, prime minister
of Iceland; Bjorg Bondevik; Kjell Magne Bondevik, prime minister,
Norway; Dalma Madl; Ferenc Madl, president of Hungary; Moshe Katzav,
president of Israel; Gila Katsav; Jolanta Kwasniewski; Aleksander
Kwasniewski, president of Poland; Michael Jeffery, governor general of
Australia; Photini Michaelides, wife of Cypriot president; Tassos
Papadopoulos, president of Cyprus; unknown; Jose Socrates, prime
minister of Portugal; Stjepan Mesic, president of Croatia; Janez
Drnovsek, president of Slovenia
Second row: Karolos Papoulias, president of Greece; Goran Persson,
prime minister of Sweden; Svetozar Marovic, president of Serbia and
Montenegro; Djina Marovic; Dr Pentti Arajarvi; Tarja Kaarina Halonen,
president of the Republic of Finland; Kurmanbek Bakiyev, acting
president of the Kyrgyz Republic; Maryan Bakiyev; Bella Kocharian;
Robert Kocharian, president of the republic of Armenia; Nursultan
Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan; Ilhan Aliev, president of
Azerbaijan; Mehriban Aliyeva; Emomali Rahmanov, president of
Taijikistan; Roh Moo-hyun, president of South Korea; Kwon Yang-suk;
Zorka Parvanov; Georgi Parvanov, president of the Republic of
Bulgaria; Heinz Fischer, president of Austria; King Mihai I of Romania
Front row: Margarita Barroso; Jose Manuel Borroso, president of the EU
Commission; Jean-Claude Junker, president of Luxembourg; Junchiro
Koizumu, president of Japan; Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of
Italy; John Saul; Adrienne Clarkson, governor general of Canada;
Gerhard Schroeder, chancellor of Germany; Doris Schroeder; Jacques
Chirac, president of France; Lyudmila Putin; Vladimir Putin, president
of Russia; George Bush, president of the USA; Laura Bush; Hu Jintao,
president of the People's Republic of China; Manmohan Singh, prime
minister of India; Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, president of Spain;
Sonsoles Zapatero; Kofi Annan, UN secretary general
No, after you . . . all friends after the shoot
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress