Gliding away from Brussels

The lengths that some people will go to to escape the European Parliament... Alojz Peterle, former prime minister of Slovenia, is limbering up to campaign for the presidency of his country. The election is scheduled for 21 October. The post is largely ceremonial and has no executive powers, but if successful Peterle would graduate from a walk-on part in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee to the presidency of the country that will, from 1 January, have the presidency of the EU.
In what might amount to an act of leave-taking, Peterle has just fulfilled a promise that he made to voters when he first became a member of the European Parliament in 2004: to fly in a single-engine light aircraft, a Slovenian-made Pipistrel Sinus motorglider, from Ljubljana to Brussels. Well, actually he got diverted from the flight-plan, which was to land at Grimbergen on the edge of Brussels, to Antwerp, where his assistant met him with a car. He also had to stop on the way at Augsburg to complete Schengen-zone entry requirements, but on the way back it was a straightforward five-hour trip. And yes, an MEP can claim travelling expenses for flying in a light aircraft, just as if he or she had driven by car.
On Tuesday this week (21 July), Peterle was at Bled airport discussing gliding with some Argentinian visitors, which does not sound like a vote-winner. He is president of the gliding club there. Apparently campaigning for the national presidency will get more serious after 20 August.