"He is not a candidate for anything"

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, whose name has been aired as a candidate to be the next president of the executive European Commission, played down the idea on Monday. "As you know, I have just had an operation on my knee -- so I am running for nothing," Solana jokingly told reporters, when asked if he was planning to offer himself as a successor to Italian Romano Prodi in November. On Saturday, the 61-year-old Spanish socialist had said it would be hard for him to turn down the top job if leaders of the 25-nation bloc asked him to take it. The leaders failed to resolve a bitter row over candidates at a summit last week, postponing the decision for a few days. Ireland has said it would like to find a solution before its presidency of the EU ends on June 30.