“Never before has the future of the Euro-Mediterranean community been so important for the identity of all of Europe”, said Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Dassù in her speech at the meeting of the Culture Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. “If the message goes out that only threats come from the southern shores, the risk is that anti-European populist forces could be strengthened and the identity of Europe itself would be called into question”.
Immigration: working within legal limits and in respect of human rights
“Italy is doing everything possible”, Dassù said, “to confront the tragedy of immigration within legal limitations and in respect of human rights. On these two points, along with security, Minister Emma Bonino is working to raise awareness in Europe”, Dassù added, recalling the tragedy in Lampedusa.
Europe has lost “soft power”
“Europe’s ability to influence the southern shores of the Mediterranean is less than it used to be”, the deputy minister underscored, pointing out that it was necessary to rebuild Europe’s “soft power” on different foundations because the old system is in trouble. “For two reasons”, Dassù specified: “first, because the economic assistance system has been weakened by new large donors, i.e. the Gulf countries; and then because the European crisis, added to that of the Mediterranean, has become a kind of negative cycle”.
