MORE CHIRAC BACKLASH:

Diplomats and commentators likened Mr Chirac’s comments to Soviet-era edicts to Warsaw Pact countries and warned they would have a lasting impact on France’s standing and authority in Europe.

Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said in a retort to Mr Chirac: “We are not joining the EU so we can sit and shut up.” . . .

Romanian President Ion Iliescu led the attack on France, describing the President’s “outdated” views as an affront to democracy and free speech.

“Such reproaches are totally unjustified, unwise and undemocratic,” he told reporters in Brussels, after a meeting for candidate nations on Iraq. . . .

“In the European family there are no mummies, no daddies and no kids – it is a family of equals,” said Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

Hmm. I guess Chirac needs to stop that “who’s your Daddy?” talk. . . .