The drive to write a constitution for the European Union was meant to "bring Europe closer to the people". But in strictly practical terms Europe's leaders are less and less keen on close proximity to the general public. When the EU'S leaders met in Greece on June 19th-21st―to receive the constitution's first draft, launch a new security doctrine and hobnob with an array of Balkan leaders―they gathered in Porto Carras, a remote resort some 150km (94 miles) up the coast from Salonika. Police were dotted every 500 metres along the road from the city to the summit. Nobody without security clearance was allowed within three kilometres of the conference venue. From a cavernous press room, journalists and officials could watch television pictures, broadcast live on a big screen, of a handful of demonstrators being tear-gassed outside the perimeter fence. Back in Salonika, rioters staged the now almost ritualistic arson attack on a local branch of McDonald's.
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