“The end of this dramatic period is not in sight, and my feelings on this aren’t positive”. This was Foreign Minister Emma Bonino’s comment at the end of her briefing to the Council of Ministers on the situation in the Middle East. “We’re witnessing a massive clash within the Muslim world: not just between Sunnis and Shiites but also a geo-strategic clash within the Sunni family”.
Syria: “We need definite information before we can react”.
The Syrian crisis has been worsened by the regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons. On this point, minister Bonino pointed out that “We need definite information on what actually happened before we can decide how to react”. She added that “since Wednesday 21 August we have seen diplomatic activity at all levels, and contacts with the US administration. Indeed, we’ll be in touch with them again shortly”.
Egypt: “the EU doesn’t have sufficient economic leverage”.
Turning to Egypt, the Minister explained that “my analysis is not that Europe has been slow. If an ‘inattentive’ Europe were the only factor, then we could speed things up. But we did try to mediate in Egypt, only to fail on 9 August. The EU does not have many economic levers at its disposal, slightly less than 1 billion euros over 3 years. We need to find other levers”.
Bonino will be reporting to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies Foreign Affairs Committees on Tuesday 27 August, at a hearing in the Senate building at Palazzo Madama.
