” ““But is Europe still politically relevant?”, wonders Durand, according to whom “the successive crises in the Middle East are evidence of the disaster that is last year’s failure of the Constitutional Treaty that would have given Europe real politic power”. Every European country, highlights Durand, “is getting ready to get back the citizens who have been caught in the trap of fights. This choice is certainly essential, but it is evidence that national selfishness is still there”. Who cares, wonders Durand, “about rescuing the unfortunate Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian citizens who just want to live in peace?”. In other words, “the rationale of national-selfishness” is there to stay: ships are sent over to evacuate the fellow citizens, not to rescue peace”. However, can we hope some European country will wake up? According to Durand, “those that since 1950 have been the propellers of the building of Europe could join forces again and could speak up together, so as to stop condemning either party or highlight their right or wrong reasons, and cry out to the fighting parties and to the world: stop it!”. We would also need “statesmen who are really able to speak loud and clear”. “This is no longer the time of diplomatic subtleties which have turned out to be inadequate concludes Durand this is the time of a clearly- and universally-asserted policy”.
