Talk about the cultural cringe!
And there's his reputation that precedes him anyway:
His foray into international economic affairs at Davos, Switzerland, in January was mortifyingly embarrassing.
Since then, virtually all references to Abbott here in Europe have been negative, often describing him as le moine fou (the mad monk) or le roi de la gaffe (king of the blunder).
Le Figaro reported Abbott’s disastrous attempt to sell the May budget, including the notorious clumsy wink – clin d'oeil maladroit – to Jon Faine on ABC Radio. It added that Abbott is réputé pour ses gaffes (famous for his blunders).
Abbott’s brief and – so far – relatively gaffe-free visit to France on Thursday and Friday followed another dismal failure with Indonesia on Wednesday.
The latest stage in this sorry saga began with Abbott’s last minute cancellation of a scheduled May meeting in Bali with President Bambang Yudhoyono.
The fake reason for the no-show was that Abbott was working on the budget. As if.
The real reason was to avoid a humiliating dressing down over yet another boat tow-back the Indonesians had intercepted. more
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