ISTANBUL: European countries must reach out to people of the Middle East and North Africa striving for democracy, the Council of Europe’s Eminent Persons group said in a report published Wednesday.
"We call on all the peoples of Europe to reach out in solidarity to… particularly their neighbors in the Middle East and North Africa who are now so courageously demonstrating their attachment to… freedom and democracy," the report said.
It also urged European institutions to develop "comprehensive policies" to help countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia "to benefit from Europe’s experience… in building societies based on the rule of law, democracy and human rights."
The report was discussed at the meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers being held in Istanbul, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a press conference Wednesday.
"Yesterday evening, we discussed these issues with all countries. Very important events have been taking place in all neighboring regions, ranging from North Africa to the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia," he said.
"We hope the Council of Europe, as it did in the past with Eastern Europe during the post-Cold War transition period, will have an important contribution in these regions, "he added.
The secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, told AFP that the pan-European rights body was already at work in Tunisia, which he visited in February with Davutoglu.
A committee of the council was supporting Tunisia in drafting a new constitution and holding elections.
"We are also working in Morocco, and we are in contact with authorities in Egypt," he said. "We want to assist as much as we can but it is very important that we will not try to impose anything on these countries, we must be wanted."
The Eminent Persons Group, chaired by former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, also urged Europe "to treat asylum seekers… fairly and humanely with appropriate solidarity and burden sharing among member states."
The question of how to handle thousands of Tunisian migrants landing in Italy with the hope of going on to France has caused tensions between Rome and Paris.
In addition to Fischer, the group includes the vice president of the Italian Senate Emma Bonino, Russia’s commissioner for human rights Vladimir Lukin and the former European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
