
Sarkozy Touts 'Mediterranean Union' Plan The
controversial plan for a political, economic, and cultural union would tie Southern Europe with parts of the Middle East and
Africa
French president Nicolas Sarkozy
has reiterated his plan to set up a Mediterranean Union, a loose grouping of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, in
2008 -- a move that is likely to raise eyebrows in some parts of Europe. "I invite all the heads of state and government of countries bordering the Mediterranean to meet in France in
June 2008 to lay the foundations of a political, economic and cultural union founded on the principles of strict equality",
Mr Sarkozy said during his visit to Morocco on Tuesday (23 October). He
added that "in the Mediterranean will be decided whether or not civilisations and religions will wage the most terrible
of wars...whether or not the North and the South will clash". The
idea of a Mediterranean Union is not a completely new one -- it was floated by Mr Sarkozy leader during the French presidential
campaign in spring of this year. Under the plans, the group should
tie southern Europe with Northern Africa as well as Israel and its Arab neighbours and tackle topical issues such as counter-terrorism,
immigration, energy, trade, water and sustainable development. However
-- after offering Turkey that it could be the backbone of the club -- the project has been widely seen as another attempt
to give Ankara an alternative for its bid for full EU membership. Mixed
reactions According to the European Commission, it is "good" to have initiatives promoting regional cooperation,
however, they "should build on existing structures". There
are fears that France's proposal would try to bypass the 12-year-old Barcelona process, designed to foster dialogue between
the EU bloc and ten countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean -- Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Libya has observer status since 1999. "It is a successful process", the commission spokesperson said on Thursday (25 October), indicating the
executive body will want more details on any new union. According
to media reports, some EU capitals are also set to seek clarification of Mr Sarkozy's ideas, with a few even indicating
it may be part of his efforts to push his own country's interests in the region. Only seven EU countries -- Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain -- would be part of the new bloc,
the rest would have a role of silent observer. In his speech in Morocco, Mr
Sarkozy himself drew a rather blurry picture of the project. On
the one hand, he called on Mediterranean people "to do the same thing, with the same goal and the same method" as
the 27-nation EU bloc has done, but at the same time, he said it would not be based on the EU model.
French President Sarkozy plans Israel visit
in May
TEL AVIV ---French President Nicolas
Sarkozy plans to visit Israel next May, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Hervé Novelli told journalists Thursday
in Tel Aviv.
"The official date has not been set yet. May is only indicative," he said.
Novelli, who is in Israel at the head of a delegation of French businessmen, met with Israeli economic representatives.
Aides to Novelli said that Sarkozy’s visit, the first in Israel since his May election as head of the
French state, might take place on the occasion of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of
Israel.
Israel’s independence day is generally celebrated in May, according to variations of the Hebrew
lunar calendar.
On October 22, during his visit to Paris, Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert praised
Nicolas Sarkozy as a "sincere and true friend of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people ».
He stressed that the atmosphere of relations between France and Israel had changed.
Israel considers that the election of Sarkozy represents a turning point in its tumultuous relations with France,
which for a long time was accused under former President Jacques Chirac to lead a pro-Arab policy.
During the
election campaign, Sarkozy presented himself as a friend of Israel and is considered as more pro-American than
all the former French presidents.
As leader of the conservative governing UMP (Union for a Popular Movement)
party, he paid a visit to Israel in 2004 during which he was warmly welcomed by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He visited
the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
Sarkozy
Stalls Turkey’s EU Entrance
BRUSSELS: In a new blow to Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union, an annual report has
concluded that reforms there slowed in 2007 because of a constitutional crisis over the election of a president with an Islamic
background.
With attention
distracted by tensions between the governing AK Party and the military over the election of Abdullah Gul, Turkey did too little
to root out corruption, modernize its judiciary, reduce the power of the military and increase freedom of expression.
The annual progress report compiled by the European Commission,
is to be released next week as a new committee prepares to examine the future of the EU. The panel may try to determine where
Europe's frontiers should lie and how much farther the bloc should expand.
Public opinion across the EU is hardening against Turkey's membership bid and the French president,
Nicolas Sarkozy, leads a group of countries opposed to full EU membership for Turkey, preferring a looser association with
Ankara instead.
Sarkozy proposed
the creation of the new committee, which is scheduled to be approved by EU heads of government next month. Turkey fears the
panel will kill off their membership bid.
Eager
to limit the damage to Turkish accession hopes, a draft of the commission's annual report stresses Turkey's strategic
importance as a "unique interface between the West and the Muslim world," a diplomatic and military partner and
an energy hub.
But it also makes
clear that the implementation of reforms was "uneven" and "has slowed down since 2005." The number of
people prosecuted for freedom of expression doubled from 2005 to 2006, corruption remains rife and Turkey was found to be
in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in 330 cases.
This year the military spoke out against Gul's candidacy for president, one of the central
pillars of the secular Turkish state. The crisis prompted parliamentary elections that returned the AK Party to power, allowing
Gul - whose wife wears a head scarf - to win the presidency through a parliamentary vote. Although the military "made
statements beyond its remit," parliamentary elections were conducted properly, the draft report says.
"Turkey now needs to renew the momentum of political
reforms," the document says. It calls for significant further efforts on freedom of expression, civilian control of the
military, increased rights for non-Muslims, the fight against corruption and judicial reforms.
Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform
in London, said the document comes at a difficult time for Turkey. "A number of governments that have been pro-Turkey
are now backpedaling or, like Denmark, keeping their heads down and leaving it to Britain, Sweden and the commission to argue
for Turkey" Grant said.
He
added: "The best prospect for Turkey at the moment is just to keep going and hope that the climate in Europe changes,
which it might do."
Eight
of the 35 "chapters" for negotiations with Turkey are now frozen because of its refusal to open its ports to ships
from Cyprus. There were fears that Sarkozy would block talks on all other issues but France has hinted that it will stop the
opening of only four other chapters.
The commission's
study underlines the amount of work needed to meet EU membership requirements. Although the document says that the outcome
of the spring crisis "reaffirmed the primacy of the democratic process," it also notes that the military took positions
on issues outside its remit. "Full civilian supervision of the military and parliamentary oversight of defense expenditures
still need to be established," the paper says.
The document adds that there has been "little progress" in the fight against corruption, which it
describes as "widespread."
The
number of prosecutions of journalists, intellectuals and human rights activists for expressing nonviolent opinions is on the
rise.
The number of people
prosecuted almost doubled in 2006 from 2005 and there were further increases in 2007.
More than half of the cases were brought under the Turkish Penal Code
and many of those under article 301, which makes it an offense to insult "Turkishness." Together with the murder
of a Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, the prosecutions have helped create a climate of self-censorship, the draft
document says. Dink was killed in Istanbul on Jan. 19. His views on the Ottoman Turkish massacres of Armenians in the era
of World War I had angered Turkish nationalists.
The number of reported torture and ill-treatment cases has declined, though they still occur, especially before
suspects are detained. Concerns remain about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the report says.
From October 2006 to October 2007 the European Court of
Human Rights delivered 330 judgments finding that Turkey had violated at least one article of the European Convention on Human
Rights.
The draft takes
an even-handed approach on the Kurdish issue saying that Turkey made "no progress in the area of cultural rights."
But it notes that the PKK separatist group is on the EU's terrorist list and talks of a "further deterioration of
the situation" in terms of attacks by the PKK and other terrorist groups.
The final version of the document may make a plea to Turkey to avoid
disproportionate retaliation.
The
report, which covers the whole EU enlargement process, also says that Croatia might be able to join the bloc by the end of
the decade if it speeds up the reform of its judiciary and the fight against corruption.
And it highlights concerns about the Balkans, including organized crime,
ethnic tensions and corruption, arguing that the measures being taken are inadequate.
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