国际英语新闻：EU, Mediterranean summit launches union, agrees on projects

PARIS, July 13 (Xinhua) -- A summit of European Union (EU) and Mediterranean countries concluded Sunday with the approval of six cooperation projects as well as principles of the functioning of the Union for the Mediterranean, which was officially launched at the summit.

    The leaders from all 27 EU member states and 16 North African, Middle East and Western Balkan countries agreed that a summit between them will take place every two years and that their foreign ministers will meet annually.

    They approved six cooperation projects: the de-pollution of the Mediterranean, the building of maritime and coastal land highways, the fight against disasters, a solar energy program, an EU-Mediterranean university and a business development initiative.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 13, 2008. Leaders of the European Union (EU) and countries around the Mediterranean gathered in Paris on Sunday to forge a union

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who spearheaded the Union for the Mediterranean, boasted the summit meeting as a great success.

    "It was an extraordinary gamble to bring together in the same room all the countries of Europe and the Mediterranean," he told reporters at the end of the summit.

    "It was an extraordinary concept to imagine the Arab states represented at the highest level."

    A 2005 summit in Barcelona, Spain under the umbrella of the so-called "Barcelona Process" failed to attract heavyweights from the Middle East. The Union for the Mediterranean was designed to build on the Barcelona Process.

    Apart from national leaders, the Paris summit was also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as representatives from half a dozen international and regional organizations. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, however, boycotted the summit.

    "It is an extremely moving and important moment for me -- something that we have been dreaming about for some time and that dream has now come true," said a beaming Sarkozy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a news briefing at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 13, 2008. Leaders of the European Union (EU) and countries around the Mediterranean gathered in Paris on Sunday to forge a union.

Despite Sarkozy's optimism, much of the union remains on paper. There was no agreement on where the next summit will take place, nor on the seat of a secretariat, its financing, and the nationality of the secretary general.

    The countries have yet to agree on the financing of the projects.

    The complicated situation in the Middle East, particularly the Israel-Palestinian conflict, poses as strong tests to the prospects of the union.

    "The way forward is open and nobody can take that away from us," argued Sarkozy, admitting that there is difficulty ahead.

    The meeting also opened new hopes for peace in the Middle East. The summit brings together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Syrian President Bashar al-Assadand Lebanese President Michel Sleimane. Many of the leaders were sitting at the same table for the first time in decades.

    "We have never been as close to an accord as we are today," Olmert told reporters after talks with Abbas and Sarkozy.

    Olmert also said his country would have direct talks with Syria soon.

    Unfortunately, no meeting was scheduled between Olmert and Assad, whose countries have technically remained at war since 1948.

    Sarkozy urged trust in the Middle East and efforts to put an end to war, as the EU has done in the past 50 years.

    "The purpose of the summit of the Union for the Mediterranean is that in the Mediterranean, around the Mediterranean, we learn to love each other rather than hate each other and make wars," Sarkozy told reporters after his meeting with Abbas and Olmert.