Europe Role
"You said earlier there is a message in every new visit, and you said that Syria is unknown to the West. I say more than this. I say that there was a big problem at one point in the world particularly between East and West. The West has devoted all the media and all technological means in order to define the East but it didn’t use all these resources in order to get to know the East as it is. And so the East knew a lot about the West but the opposite is not true. The first message I carry with me is to try and introduce the East to the West and to introduce Arab issues as they really are and not just to Italy because Italy is a close country that probably knows the East better than any other European country. But it is an important entrance to Europe also. Without this accurate understanding of the West to the East, we can’t really speak about a healthy role that Europe can play. This takes us to the second part of the question: Can Europe with the US play the role? I think they can, certainly they can. But this is subject first to the desire of these parties and to their ability of those entrusted with this role, and second it is also dependent on their accurate knowledge of the situation. And third, it is subject to the desire of the conflicting parties in this role and their trust in the cosponsors. I can say in the name of all the Arab parties, that there is a trust in the European Union, they trust the European Union. And it is clear for everyone that Israel rejects the European role. The reason is that the European stand is an objective one, the fact that Israel doesn't like. What is clear until now is that the United States doesn't desire Europe to play a role that is expressive of a European independent stand and of a European identity. Until now the role that had been given to Europe by the United States is to market American ideas, but has not yet been allowed to play a role of its own making. But even the American Administration doesn't have a clear vision of how to conduct this peace process. Thereof I can’t see that the circumstances are prepared for this role to be played unless Europe wants to play this role in an independent fashion, and this would have its own prerequisites."
From HE’s Interview with the Italian Corriere Della Sera
"I feel that this communication and contact are very important with the entire world, and I could see that Europe is entitled to play a very important role in that regard. Of course, the southern European countries are more capable of playing this role. I meant the Mediterranean countries of course, as I said, due to the similar social nature and the historical relations also. "
From HE’s Interview with the Italian Corriere Della Sera
"Syria has always called for such a role- European role- ;but it is very clear in practice that Europe has no effective tools. Some attribute the affair to the economic reasons and others to political causes. But I say there is , in addition to both attibutions, another cause which is the political will. The European role is marketing the American proposals, especially in the ME peace process. Any initiative ,if we want to call it a European one should be derivative from European vision
From HE’s Interview with Al Jazeera
"The French people have a great history, distinguished from the histories of other peoples, even in Europe itself. This has given the French people a special culture, an open culture, which has reflected on French politics and gave an important role to France in Europe, in the world at large, and in the Middle East in particular. President Charles De Gaulle also added a great deal to this French position. This role is in fact receding today, as I said a short while ago, and seems sometimes invisible, sometimes inexistent, and sometimes subordinate to other roles. This has never happened in the history of the French role before, and could have many political causes, and may be other causes that need to be examined. But the net result is that this harms the interests of the French people first of all, the interests of Europe and the world, and our interests in the Middle East. We cannot actually separate the interests of Europe now from the Middle East, and the evidence is what happened in the past: 9/11 in New York, the Madrid explosions, the London explosions, what is happening in Indonesia, and what is happening in the Palestinian territories."
From HE’s Interview with France3 TV