French President Nicolas Sarkozy has invited heads of states and
governments concerned to meet in France in June 2008 for the
creation of a Mediterranean Union, said reports from the northern
Moroccan port city of Tangier Tuesday.
The organization would be "a political, economic and cultural
union founded on the principles of strict equality," said Sarkozy,
who is on a three-day official visit to the North African
country.
The French president said that he would consult all the leaders
of the countries bordering the Mediterranean on the conference
agenda and brief them on his 10 concrete projects.
Nations which are not directly on the banks of the Mediterranean
but are "concerned" were also invited to the summit as observers,
he added.
The body was modeled on a precursor to the European Union (EU)
but would be different from the EU, Sarkozy said.
He proposed that the EU should be involved in the creation of
the union and provide necessary assistance to ensure the two blocs
complement each other.
The project of the union, which is supposedly composed of 16
Mediterranean countries, was put forward by Sarkozy when he was in
the race for the French presidency. He has made the Mediterranean
region one of his diplomatic priorities since assuming the duties
of president in May this year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2007)
