Europe’s disappointment with nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank seems to have abated since leaders are discussing the possibility to approve the neoconservative American’s appointment.

People familiar with the situation said some European Union finance ministers, met in Brussels on March 22 to discuss the appointment of the outgoing U.S. deputy defense secretary to succeed World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, had agreed informally not to be against his candidacy. Officials emphasized that the negotiations were important though not obligatory.

U.S. officials in Washington uttered an assurance that Mr. Wolfowitz’s candidacy will be approved by the World Bank’s 24-member executive board, whose meeting is planned for March 31.The White House has conducted a massive campaign over the past week as President George W. Bush, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Mr. Wolfowitz himself have called more than 100 senior officials around the world to urge support for the U.S. candidate. The possibility of unanimous support for Mr. Wolfowitz was overshadowed a bit by raising concerns that the French will vote "no" in a referendum on the EU’s new constitution and a rift among France, Germany and Britain over whether to lift the EU’s ban on arms sales to China, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, most experts say a European veto is unlikely to come. The Europeans collectively hold the most shares in the bank with 30%, but the U.S. is the biggest single shareholder with 17%. Along with Germany, Italy has publicly approved Mr. Wolfowitz’s candidacy.