Malta, 25 October 2010: The 29^th Euro-Mediterranean Training Seminar of Diplomats, which brings together diplomats from across Europe, the Arab ‘Mediterranean’ countries, Israel and Turkey, concluded today with a debate on the conclusions of the Anna Lindh Report 2010 and the challenge of bridging the gap in mutual perceptions between the North and South of the Mediterranean.

Organised by the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), with the support of the European Commission, the regional meeting has been running since the birth in 1995 of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the far-reaching political agreement which was re-launched in 2008 as the ‘Union for the Mediterranean’ at the Paris Summit of the 43 Heads of State and Government.

Speaking during the closing debate on the Anna Lindh Report, Professor Stephen Calleya, Director of MEDAC, said: “For all of us involved in working for Mediterranean cooperation - diplomats, academics, media and civil society – the question of addressing the gap in mutual perceptions is central.  In this regard, the Anna Lindh Report is an exceptional piece of work which breaks new ground and must be used as a major tool for policy debate and action.”

The Anna Lindh Report 2010, which is based on the very first  Gallup Public Opinion Poll on Euro-Mediterranean Intercultural Trends, has a specific thematic focus on the impact of media.

Paul Walton, Communication Manager of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, who was presenting the Report in Malta, said: “When we chose to focus on the impact of media we were deciding not to avoid addressing an area which is, one the one hand, risky, and on the other, complex, but which is in all respects central for understanding the reality of the situation today, if we are serious about giving more chances to union across the Mediterranean.”

Among the Report findings it emerges that nearly four-fifths of people questioned in eight European countries and two-thirds of those questioned in five countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean were unable to recall coming across anything in the media which had recently enhanced their view of people in the ‘other’ group.

Dr Gamal Soltan, Director of Al Ahram Centre in Cairo, Egypt, said: “Many of the challenges we are facing in the Mediterranean are simply the challenges of globalization around the world.  The Anna Lindh Report addresses the complexity of these challenges and underlines the central role of media in communicating the rapid transformations of our societies and the shared values on which a common Mediterranean project can be built.” 

Through the debate with diplomats, a number of recommendations were proposed, including: using the output of the Report findings as the basis of an educational resource for schools across the Region; maximizing the Anna Lindh Report’s capacity to stimulate debate and discussion on intercultural issues within the academic community and the wider civil society; and working with the Ministries of Foreign and Home Affairs to translate the findings into policy proposals at the national and international level.