The Danish cartoon crisis dominated last week's Euro-Mediterranean Forum, reports Magda El-Ghitany Last week's Euro-Mediterranean Forum meeting held in Cairo, attended by 11 member states -- Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Tunisia -- was intended to "assess progress on the Barcelona declaration", said Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit. "Has it attained its intended goals, and if not, then what are the obstacles preventing progress?" It was the first meeting to take place since November's Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Summit, which marked the 10th anniversary of the 1995 Barcelona declaration that aims at promoting closer cooperation between its member states -- the 25 European Union countries and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, the EU's 10 Southern Mediterranean partners. It was also, significantly, the first to be held since the furore over the publication by a Danish newspaper of 12 cartoons denigrating the Prophet Mohamed broke. "The forum was originally supposed to discuss developments in the peace process, the situation in Iraq and the Iranian nuclear file but this all changed following the Danish crisis," said Abul-Gheit. "Instead, the focus was on ways to help both Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries activate cultural dialogue so as to prevent the reoccurrence of such crises." The forum -- established a year before the 1995 Barcelona process on an Egyptian-French initiative -- has, say diplomats, always acted as a brainstorming workshop for issues that could be tackled under the broader Barcelona declaration. The discussions that take place within the forum do so on "unofficial terms and in a friendly atmosphere. There is no specific official agenda or a final communiqué," commented one diplomat. Instead, "we convene to frankly assess Euro- Mediterranean cooperation. We discuss obstacles that may hinder such a partnership and the means to eliminate them. The forum is a unique platform that both affects, and is affected by, the 10-year- old partnership process." Last week's forum also discussed ways to support the Alliance among Civilisations Initiative first mooted by Spain and Turkey and which, said Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Fatemah El-Zahraa, might help offset the cultural deficit the rootedness of which was made explicit by the Danish cartoons crisis. The deficit, argued one diplomat who requested anonymity, is the result of Western ignorance of the cultures and civilisations of the South, especially the Islamic civilisation. This lack of knowledge creates "psychological and social barriers that separate the Northern and Southern Mediterranean and which impose themselves on the list of strategic challenges confronting the Mediterranean region." "Our common challenge as Mediterranean states," noted El-Zahraa, "is to destroy all such barriers", in which endeavour culture remains the key. "While values such as liberty and freedom of expression are crucial components of human rights, the Northern Mediterranean countries must recognise that they have to be exercised in a spirit of responsibility and respect. This is crucial in order to prevent these values becoming tools that prevent peaceful co- existence between different people and cultures," opined one diplomat. The forum underlined the role of education, particularly primary education, in inculcating values of tolerance that will have a long-term impact on creating historical awareness of different cultures and ideologies. It suggested that the art and culture of the Arab and Islamic worlds be accorded more attention in the educational curricula of Northern Mediterranean states, especially given the wide exposure Southern Mediterraneans already have to the culture of their northern counterparts. It was in pursuit of such an objective that Michelle Capasso, president of the Euro-Mediterranean Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, suggested two weeks ago a "Euro-Mediterranean Satellite TV channel be established that would present its programmes in Arabic, as well as other Mediterranean languages, and that would be funded non governmentally". Such a channel, said Capasso, would broadcast social and cultural programmes for young people underlining the tolerance espoused by Islam and the other civilisations to the Euro- Mediterranean world. "As globalisation accelerates we need to exert all effort to ensure the coming decade is characterised by growing respect among civilisations and cultures. It is a goal we cannot afford not to reach but for that to happen there must be genuine will from both sides, which is what the forum is all about," commented one diplomat.
