French premier in Algeria to press for Mediterranean Union

The Associated Press, International Herald tribune, Published: June 22, 2008

ALGIERS, Algeria: The French prime minister met Algeria's president on Sunday to press for his support on the Mediterranean Union that France wants to create between Europe and its southern neighbors.

But Francois Fillon failed to obtain any public Algerian commitment after a meeting with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"Each thing in its time," Bouteflika said in response to a question on whether he planned to attend the union's launching summit in Paris on July 13. French diplomatic officials said that, behind closed doors, the Algerians had voiced support for the Mediterranean Union project.

Fillon later said he was "happy that the project has received a warm welcome from President Bouteflika and the Algerian government."

He told reporters that "nobody could foresee the union's creation without Algeria."

However, pressed to address whether Algeria would attend its opening summit, Fillon said: "I'm not the spokesman for President Bouteflika."

Algeria's chief of government, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, said his country felt the union project remained vague. "We don't know whether we should be talking to Paris or to Brussels," Belkhadem told reporters in a joint news conference with Fillon before the French prime minister left Algeria.

The Brussels-based European Union, with prodding from Germany, has been seeking to water down the scope of the proposed bloc and France's role in it. The Mediterranean Union would not include all the countries in the EU, just those with a Mediterranean coastline.

Separately, the two-day visit by Fillon and his large government and business delegation also won signatures on Europe's largest-ever nuclear cooperation deal with an Arab state, a military agreement between France and Algeria, and several business deals.

The French prime minister said the "unprecedented" scope of the civilian nuclear deal inked Saturday underlined that France could "trust (Algeria) in the long term."

Fillon said it should "lead to the undertaking in Algeria of a civilian nuclear reactor that will produce electricity."

Fillon did not give a timeframe for building a reactor. French diplomats said it could take over a decade.

The deal had been initiated by President Nicolas Sarkozy during a state visit in December but was signed Saturday because it needed prior approval by the European Union.

Heading out of a more than two-hour meeting with Bouteflika and his government, Fillon said he and his ministers had been greeted "with a lot of warmth."

"There is a climate of great frankness between France and Algeria," he said. "A climate of trust has been established."

A former French colony that won its independence in 1962 after a long and bitter decolonization war, Algeria has ambiguous relations with France. Millions of French are of Algerian origin or descended from former colonists, and more than 550,000 Algerians live in France, the French Foreign Ministry says.

Based on these "human ties," the relations between the two states are "intense," said Fillon during his visit, pointing out that France is also the No. 1 exporter to Algeria.

But Algerian officials and local media have questioned whether the Mediterranean Union project is a way for France to expand its influence in North Africa. Israel's role in the future union also worries the Algerian government, French officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Fillon tried to dismiss these fears, saying the union would allow more dialogue and help defuse tensions in the region. It would also aim at leveling inequalities north and south of the Mediterranean, and tackle issues such as reducing sea pollution and illegal immigration.

Fillon told reporters he hoped all Mediterranean countries would take part, including Algeria, Syria and Israel.

He hinted that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could be the union's first head, and said several countries, including Morocco,Tunisia and Malta, have offered to host its headquarters.