2007年VOA标准英语-French President Pushes for New Mediterranean U

By Anita Elash
Paris
10 July 2007

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Tunisia on his first trip outside Europe since his election. Sarkozy met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. One of his main objectives is to try to sell the idea of a new partnership¹ between countries that border the Mediterranean². Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris.

anthems3 upon Sarkozy's arrival at Algiers airport 10 Jul 2007  " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070712/1054420.jpg" width="209" vspace="2" border="0" />

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy listen national anthems upon Sarkozy's arrival at Algiers airport 10 Jul 2007

Nicolas Sarkozy talked about a Mediterranean Union during his election campaign, but almost no one understood how serious he was until the night he won the French presidency⁴. In his victory speech, he made it clear the initiative would be one of his priorities.

He told supporters gathered at the Place de la Concorde in Paris that everything will play out in the Meditrerranean. He said France wanted to build a union that would help Mediterranean countries achieve peace and prosperity in the same way the European Union helped Europe unite after the Second World War.

Mr. Sarkozy still has not spelled out exactly what he has in mind. What is clear though, is that the union would include all the countries that border on the Mediterranean, including Turkey, Israel, and Egypt, as well as Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

 

Presidential spokesman, David Martinon, said last week that Mr. Sarkozy wants the union to cooperate on questions of security, economic development, energy, and immigration. How that would work is up for negotiation⁵, Martinon said.

Analysts⁶ say that in theory, such a union would benefit everyone involved. ''I think it is a good idea, because when he says somewhere that the future is in the south for Europe, I think he is right. So I think it is a very good idea.,' said Jean-Paul Chagnolleau is editor-in-chief of the magazine Confluences⁷ Mediterranee.

Chagnolleau says the project is partly designed to help France and other European countries bordering the Mediterranean solve problems of illegal immigration from the Magreb. But he says there could be economic benefits on both sides of the sea, especially if a union could facilitate European investment on the southern side.

France would like to secure energy sources in the region, and Mr. Sarkozy may offer to help Algeria develop nuclear power facilities.

But there are also significant hurdles⁸. Dorothy Schmid is an Mediterranean expert at the French Institute of International Relations. "The idea would be quite a good idea if you stick to a very idealistic point of view. The problem is always the feasibility of any political design in the Mediterranean context because it is a region that is clearly full of conflicts," he said.

Schmid says it would be impossible to form a successful union that includes the entire Mediterranean region as long as Israel and the Palestinians are at war. There are also ongoing⁹ border conflicts between Algeria and Morocco, and Greece and Cyprus.

Turkey has rejected the idea, because it fears that Mr. Sarkozy wants to use it to keep Turkey out of the European Union. Relations between France and Algeria are also tense, and Chagnolleau says it is unlikely Algeria would easily agree to join a new Mediterranean group.

But there is some hope that Mr. Sarkozy's idea could eventually succeed. Schmid says that because France has long-standing ties in countries surrounding the Mediterranean, it could be the only country capable of bringing new solutions to the region's problems.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 anthems   

n.赞美诗( anthem的名词复数 )；圣歌；赞歌；颂歌

参考例句：

• They usually play the national anthems of the teams at the beginning of a big match. 在大型赛事开始前，他们通常演奏参赛国国歌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rise please, rise for the anthems of & . 请全体起立，奏和两国国歌。 来自互联网

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 confluences   

n.（河流的）汇合处( confluence的名词复数 )；汇流处；（事物的）汇合；汇流

参考例句：

• Channel confluences are common in natural rivers and much hydraulic engineering. 水沙交汇区在天然河流和水利工程中广泛存在着。 来自互联网

8 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。