euro|topics - The Mediterranean club

Main focus of Monday, July 14, 2008

The Mediterranean club

The Mediterranean Union was baptised on the weekend in Paris. The project, itself the object of much controversy in the EU, brought together more than 40 heads of state and government, including representatives from the Palestinian territories, Israel, Syria and Lebanon. The European press looks at the pros and cons of the new union.

Diário de Notícias - Portugal

According to the leading article in the Portuguese daily Diário de Notícias, the founding of the Mediterranean Union is just the first step: "Nowhere else in the world is the disparity in terms of wealth as great as between Spain, France and Italy and North Africa. This is what lies behind the drama of illegal immigration and why so many people from the poor side want to come to the rich side, even if it means risking their lives. The Mediterranean Union which was launched yesterday in Paris will not suffice to bridge this centuries-old chasm - which is filled with nationalist and colonialist hate on both sides. But Nicolas Sarkozy's project has been signed by representatives from forty countries, and this proves that they are all aware that common prosperity depends on everyone cooperating with each other. And at least this is a start." (14/07/2008)

Večer - Slovenia

The Slovenian daily Večer recalls the rocky road to the founding of the new Mediterranean Union: "It is not exactly what Sarkozy had in mind. He had imagined an association of littoral countries, the so-called 'Club Med', with its own investment bank and regular ministerial meetings. Sarkozy had envisioned the project receiving generous financing from the EU, with France playing the leading role. But in the end France's president was forced to give in to the opposition of the key EU states who were against Brussels financing France's desire to expand its clout. ... Although it is obvious that the new Union has been born amid a lack of serious promises for investment in the development of the Mediterranean countries, France's president has chalked up his first victory with the statement that the 'Club Med' brings 'new hope'. ... So far only one thing is for sure: France has ... managed to strengthen its role, and hence the role of the EU, in the Middle East." (14/07/2008)

Le Figaro - France

For the newspaper Le Figaro, the Mediterranean Union heralds France's return as a diplomatic player in the Middle East: "The launch of the Mediterranean Union in Paris this weekend highlights with much pomp France's return to the Middle East. Getting the Israeli Ehud Olmert, the Syrian Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Michel Suleiman all to sit down at the same table is in itself a stage victory for a project that was confronted with many difficulties even before it was born. ... And it shows that French diplomacy still carries weight when the future of the Middle East is at stake. ... Nicolas Sarkozy is a sort of godfather for the new relations between Damascus and Beirut. That is a major risk, in view of recent history. But the responsibilities that the president is shouldering correspond to the ambitions our country has always had regarding Lebanon and the entire region." (12/07/2008)

The Times - United Kingdom

The Times doubts the effect of the new Mediterranean Union: "A useful Paris conference, though the results may be a damp squib. ... Beyond the high-sounding declarations, however, there will be useful measures: cleaning up sea waters, working on land and maritime 'highways', developing solar energy and student exchanges and setting up a body to help medium and small-sized companies with technical assistance. The meeting has been used to bring Syria in from the cold. President Assad has been given a chance to break away from Iran's suffocating embrace and, on sufferance, has been accepted again as a negotiating partner by the West. ... Whether a lasting secretariat and institutions come from the conference remains open. But at least long-separated neighbours have been brought closer together." (14/07/2008)

» To the complete press review of Monday, July 14, 2008

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