LONDON: The prospect of a British exit from the European Union appears to have led British tabloid The Sun and its German rival Bild to call a brief truce in their sparring.

Europe’s two top-selling newspapers have for years traded largely playful abuse in a bid to keep alive a historic enmity that most of their readers have long since buried.

But Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to re-negotiate Britain’s terms of membership and then hold a referendum on whether Britons want to stay in the EU has led the papers to find reasons for the countries to love each other.

After Bild urged Britain to stay in Europe “because you are so wonderfully crazy” and said it would miss the “quirky” royal family and Mr Bean if Britain left the EU, The Sun on Friday listed 10 reasons to love Germany.

German cars topped the list, followed by models Claudia Schiffer and Heidi Klum, the alcoholic drink Jaegermeister and former German striker Rudi Voller, whose “mullet/’tache (moustache) combo took some beating”.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun admitted it had been surprised by the peace offering. “We weren’t expecting a love-in with Europe’s largest economy,” it said.

“But German newspaper Bild has run an article begging us to STAY in the EU.” The Sun then offered 10 reasons to love Germany, “in the spirit of warm Anglo-German relations”.—AFP