I don't agree with everything I read in the Telegraph, but as MEPs have to cope with an increasingly diverse range of languages in the European Parliament, I can definitely sympathise with this:

"You'd think that after four years as Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw would be used to dealing with exotically named politicians around the world. Yet, visiting Strasbourg yesterday to address the European Parliament for the first time, he became somewhat tongue-tied.

"'He referred to some work done on Iraq by a Greek MEP by the name of Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos,' I'm told. 'He made three valiant attempts to pronounce it, but then gave up and settled on calling him plain George. He should be grateful he didn't have to refer to his Polish colleague, Janusz Onyszkiewicz.'"