LAWYERS for Conrad Black, chairman of the Telegraph Group, served a claim for libel damages on Britain's ambassador to Germany yesterday for alleging that he is anti-European, foreign and does not seek to provide objective coverage of German and European issues.

 Sir Paul Lever was served with the High Court claim at Keble College, Oxford, where he is attending the annual Königswinter Anglo-German conference. The ambassador said in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt that "foreign-owned" newspapers, such as those of Rupert Murdoch and Mr Black, had an "underlying political philosophy that is anti-European" which, since Germany is the largest country in Europe, was anti-German.

 Sir Paul said: "So naturally they want to portray what is happening in Europe and in Germany in a negative light." In an open letter to Charles Moore, editor of The Daily Telegraph, Sir Paul said that "at no time during the interview did I imply any criticism of the coverage in The Daily Telegraph of Germany".

 Mr Black said yesterday that he intended to press his lawsuit, as it was necessary to refute the contention that to criticise the EU as a political structure was xenophobic or anti-European. He said: "I have said publicly on many occasions that I am a Germanophile, as Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl could attest. For the ambassador to claim that we are anti-German is outrageous.

 "We wish Europe well, but we don't want to run the risk of being harmonised back into a pre-Thatcherite economy. But that could not possibly be construed as being anti-European or anti-German. I am not prepared to endure that charge from the accredited - and therefore credible - representative of the British Government to Germany.

 "I can't imagine that anyone in their right mind would be anti-European. It is a magnificent continent which has contributed hugely to civilisation. But that is nothing to do with the debate about structures that are appropriate for governing it. I think that France and Germany should go to full federation. Our view is that this is not right for Britain. But it should not mean that you can't have a reasoned debate about structures without being accused of xenophobia.

 "How can the ambassador believe that? The holder of a high diplomatic post is expected to show diplomacy and suavity, but all we have here is defamation and stupidity. What does the British ambassador to Germany think he is doing, slagging off the British press in a respected German newspaper? If he has a complaint with us, he should raise it with us."

 Mr Black said he resented being described as a "foreigner" and bracketed with Rupert Murdoch, who is a foreigner. "I am a British citizen. I am getting pretty tired of being treated as an interloper whose interests are inimical to those of this country, and I don't see why I should have to endure that from a British ambassador."