Brussels, 08/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - Foreign affairs ministers of the EU and of member countries of the Arab League will meet in Malta on the afternoon of Monday 11 February and Tuesday 12 February for an exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East (Palestine, Lebanon and Syria) and Iraq, and to begin building cultural dialogue between the two groups of countries.
On the European side, the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU, High Representative of the EU for CFSP Javier Solana, Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and a number, as yet unconfirmed, of ministers from the member states, will be present. On the Arab side, the secretary-general of the Arab League and head of diplomacy of Saudi Arabia (the country currently presiding over the pan-Arab organisation) are expected to attend, together with ministers, including the Egyptian minister, whose presence has been announced, despite the slight “froideur” in relations between this country and the EU further to the adoption by the European Parliament of a resolution criticising the human rights situation in this country (EUROPE 9591).
As well as an exchange of views on political subjects of major importance, the participants will also discuss the future of relations between the EU and the Arab world. Malta is urging the other member states of the EU to agree for these relations to be resumed. But the unsatisfactory experience of Euro-Arab dialogue structured between 1975 and 1981 provides little incentive to relaunch a formula which has failed to prove its worth, due to the great diversity between the Arab partners. In the view of the secretariat of the Arab League, the absence of Israel from a consultation of this type on the Middle East is a major asset in establishing ambitious relations with Europe. We will agree to all forms of consultation, but Euromed dialogue (Barcelona process) remains the focal point of our relations, said Christina Gallach, spokesperson to Mr Solana. Both Mr Solana and the Commission have stated that no structuring of the dialogue is foreseeable. (F.B.)