Newsweek: Schwarzenegger Advised to Seek 'EU Presidency'

Austrian-American, actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the Governator cartoon in Cannes, France, 04 April 2011 EPA/BGNES

Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger is being advised by his aides to "run" for President of the European Union.

According to Newsweek, 63-year-old former bodybuilding legend and Hollywood movie star is thinking about his political future, and his entourage is urging him to seek the Presidency of the EU.

"In the next few years, the EU will be looking for a much more high-profile president - somebody who can unify Europe... The French won't want a German, and the Germans won't want an Italian. How about a European-born person who went off to America and ... could return to be the Washington or Jefferson of a new unified Europe?" Terry Tamminen, former head of Schwarzenegger's cabinet, told the magazine, without explicitly giving the name of the former governor of California.

After Austrian-born Schwarzenegger second term as California's governor ended in January 2011, there were rumors about the political or cinematic future of the "Governor." He can't run for the US presidency, reserved only for individuals who were American citizens by birth.

Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the big screen. In early April, he presented "The Governator" at Cannes, a cartoon that depicts him as a superhero, created in collaboration with Stan Lee, creator of the Hulk, Thor, Spiderman and X-Men.

It is unclear exactly how Schwarzenegger can run for EU President since there is technically no such post, and the term is a misnomer for the position of the President of the EU Council, currently occupied by Flemish Belgian politician Herman Van Rompuy, also 63, widely seen as a compromise low-profile candidate, the first one ever to take the new post after the EU Lisbon Treaty entered into force in 2010.

What is more, the EU Council President is not an elected official but is determined by the state leaders of the EU member states.

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