Leaders of EU and Mediterranean rim countries are gathering in Paris to launch a Union for the Mediterranean.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is hosting leaders from 42 nations, to discuss issues including regional unrest, immigration and pollution.

France says the new union could send a "wind of hope" through the region.

Progress has already been made. Mr Sarkozy announced on Saturday that Syria, Lebanon in landmark agreement to establish diplomatic ties ...
Lufthansa pilots to strike over pay hike demand ...
France takes over EU presidency ...
EBRD appoints Thomas Mirow as new president ...
EU Condemns Lebanese Violence in Beirut ...
World Powers to Make Iran New Offer Over Nuclear Program ... Syria and Lebanon had agreed to set up embassies in each other's capitals.

Lebanon and Syria broke off diplomatic ties after former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005 - an attack which Lebanon claims Syria was involved in.

But after Mr Sarkozy held talks with Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman and then Syria's leader Bashar Assad, he announced the establishment of embassies and hailed the moment as an "historic step forward".

The French president also asked Mr Assad to use his ties with Iran to help resolve the international stand-off over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to use the summit to recommend increasing EU sanctions on Zimbabwe's leadership, following the rejection of a sanctions resolution by the UN Security Council.

Mr Sarkozy has long spearheaded the idea of a Union for the Mediterranean.

He recently claimed the grouping could transform the Mediterranean region into an area of peace and prosperity.

Lacking substance?

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Saturday that a "wind of hope" in the Middle East.

But he added: "I regret to say discussions between Israelis and Palestinians are not part of it so far."

Critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there continues to be disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that although some French newspapers have written off the scheme as a kind of "showy multilateralism" in tune with President Sarkozy's showy life-style, it is in fact a serious attempt to re-energise France's role in the Middle East - and by extension Europe's .

However there are many longstanding rivalries between delegations - such as Israel and Syria; Syria and Lebanon; and Israel and the Palestinians.

There were also fears that Turkey might not co-operate, because of fears that the union might be used as an alternative to EU membership for Ankara - which Mr Sarkozy has long opposed.

However Turkey's foreign minister said on Saturday that his government would play an active role in the union.

The only European or Mediterranean rim leader expected to boycott the Paris meeting is Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism.

Mr Sarkozy's original plan was to create a grouping reserved just for Mediterranean rim states.

But the plan had to be amended and its agenda watered down after opposition from other EU states, notably Germany, which wanted to be involved.

France and Egypt plan to co-chair the new organisation for the first few years.

(BBC)

<< Back