Why did they invite him?

The 17 Finance Ministers of the European Union met in Poland recently. They invited  Mr. Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary of Finance of the United States of America, specifically "to offer some advice on fixing Europe's sovereing debt and banking problems."
Mr. Geithner evidently is well aware that his own country has serious debt problems itself and therefore he kept his remarks to a few platitudes. He urged the E.U. to enlarge their bail-out fund, describing the US efforts to bolster the market in 2008, and to speak to their member states and the rest of the world with a united voice. He did not offer a fully developed plan and his remarks could in no way be interpreted as "preaching".
The Finance Minister of Austria, Mrs. Maria Fekter, however, had this to say after the meeting: "I had expected that, when he tells us how he sees the world, that he would listen to what we have to say."
The Belgian Finance Minister chimed right in, suggesting that "we Europeans do not need Advice from America."
So, one has to wonder: If they did not want to hear him speak, why did they invite him? Surely they did not ask him to come to their meeting and to keep his mouth shut, because "we Europeans have nothing to learn from the United States." Had they not invited him, he would obviously not have come and in his absence he would not have offended the Austrian and Belgian Finance Ministers, and probably 15 more.
I am certain that Mr. Geithner listened very attentively to everything said by all the Finance Ministers present, thusly fulfilling Frau Fekter's requirements.
Now one must ask again: Why in hell did they invite him?

Bertstravels