Former president speaks about the Med dilemma

It is in Europe's interest to have a strong Arab nation free of conflict, President Emeritus Guido de Marco told an audience in Brussels.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to impede the proper elaboration and development of Euro-Mediterranean relations, the former President said.

He questioned what it would take to make the EU a stronger actor in the resolution of this conflict that had lingered for half a century.

Prof. de Marco presented a lecture entitled 'The Mediterranean Dilemma' organised by the European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation (MEDEA).

The former President opened the lecture with an explanation of the historical events that eventually profiled the social, political and economic realities of the Mediterranean, ending with the recent establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean which, he said, had yet to prove itself.

Prof. de Marco said he hoped that the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty would give to the EU the necessary tools to make it a more consistent and a stronger actor in the Mediterranean, a region that longed for stability and peace.

Following the lecture, Prof. de Marco took questions from the floor which was made up of ambassadors, diplomats, and researchers from leading international relations think-tanks and international organisations.

The MEDEA institute is a research centre whose primary purpose is to build relationships of trust, cooperation and mutual understanding between EU countries and their Mediterranean and Arab neighbours. This was the first time that a Maltese personality took part in a MEDEA activity.