(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 18 - The Arab Spring uprisings have
confronted Europe and the West with a change of prospect and a
new challenge, which they must face together with the Arab
world: a ''real and all-embracing plan to relay the foundations
of the Euro-Mediterranean community." This was the central point
of the speech delivered by Franco Frattini, president of the
Alcide De Gasperi Foundation and head of international affairs
of the PDL party, during today's conference on the EU and the
Arab Spring in Rome.
According to Frattini, former Foreign minister in the Berlusconi's government, ''the Euro-Mediterranean attempts of the past 25 years, first with the Barcelona process and later with the Union for the Mediterranean, have not been successful." Moreover, the ''Marshall plan for the Mediterranean will also fail, because there cannot be a donation plan based on rules made by us." The uprisings, he pointed out, have been ''an awakening for the entire Western world,'' because ''they have made us understand the mistake of forming partnerships with non-democratic leaders who sacrificed people's lives.'' Partnerships, which also turned out to be ''fragile." The revolutions have brought forward ''new leaders'' with whom to open a dialogue: the armed forces, often watching over the transition like in Egypt, the generation of young people and the political Islam. Therefore, according to the former Italian foreign minister, ''relaying the foundations of the Mediterranean community now means facing the important issues the Arab Spring has addressed, starting with human dignity, respect for human rights, equality between men and women, religious freedom and the rights of Christians." (ANSAmed).
According to Frattini, former Foreign minister in the Berlusconi's government, ''the Euro-Mediterranean attempts of the past 25 years, first with the Barcelona process and later with the Union for the Mediterranean, have not been successful." Moreover, the ''Marshall plan for the Mediterranean will also fail, because there cannot be a donation plan based on rules made by us." The uprisings, he pointed out, have been ''an awakening for the entire Western world,'' because ''they have made us understand the mistake of forming partnerships with non-democratic leaders who sacrificed people's lives.'' Partnerships, which also turned out to be ''fragile." The revolutions have brought forward ''new leaders'' with whom to open a dialogue: the armed forces, often watching over the transition like in Egypt, the generation of young people and the political Islam. Therefore, according to the former Italian foreign minister, ''relaying the foundations of the Mediterranean community now means facing the important issues the Arab Spring has addressed, starting with human dignity, respect for human rights, equality between men and women, religious freedom and the rights of Christians." (ANSAmed).
