Euro-Arab meetings for defense, foreign and interior ministers

The European Union countries are attempting to revive the European - Mediterranean track established in Barcelona a year after the failure of the ministerial conference hosted by Malta, which ended without scheduling subsequent ministerial meetings fulfilling the comprehensive participation established by the Barcelona announcement in 1995.

European sources expect that there will be three joint ministerial meetings in the coming weeks, presenting an opportunity to revive European - Mediterranean discussions, yet the meetings will be held on the condition that the talks will not deal the issues relating to the Arab - Israeli conflict.

The first meeting, which forms an attempt to revive the Mediterranean - European track, will be partial because it is confined to the countries of the western Mediterranean. The meeting will be held in Napoli, Italy in the coming month and will include the interior ministers form Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.

In the second meeting, the south European - Moroccan capitals are currently examining meetings and drafts similar those written by the defense ministers of the western Mediterranean basin.

The third meeting will bring together the foreign ministers from countries participating in the Barcelona conference. The conference will be hosted by Palermo, Italy on June 3 and will include the European Union foreign ministers in addition to 12 Mediterranean ministers, among which are six Arab ministers from Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon and Palestine.