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Europe has 'powerful enemies' in US, says French Europe minister HONOR MAHONY France's Europe minister, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, has said that Europe has enemies in Washington, suggesting that neo-conservatives played a significant role in the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty earlier this month. French daily Le Monde reports Mr Jouyet as saying that "Europe has powerful enemies on the other side of the Atlantic, gifted with considerable financial means. The role of American neo-conservatives was very important in the victory of the No." He made the comments at a pro-Europe meeting in Lyons over the weekend, just over a week after Irish voters rejected the EU's latest treaty by 53.4 to 46.6 percent. Allegations that some funding for the No side came from across the Atlantic also came up during the Irish debate preceding the referendum. Libertas, an anti-treaty organisation campaigning on a platform of cutting Brussels red-tape, was on the receiving end of such accusations earlier this month. The Yes camp alleged it was being bankrolled by a US company, Rivada, which has links to the US military. Some key member of the Libertas campaign had been on Rivada's payroll. Libertas chief Declan Ganley is also chief executive of Rivada, a telecommunications company. Mr Ganley has said that the company has only been involved in domestic rescue and disaster operations, and helping US military bodies such as the National Guard and the Coastguard. The Yes camp has urged Libertas to make its donors and accounts public, saying it could not have raised its money so quickly with domestic donors only.
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