“We need a Mediterranean spring and a European Spring” – PAM Vice President, Michel Vauzelle at the Anna Lindh Mediterranean Forum in Marseille

The Anna Lindh Foundation Mediterranean Forum 2013 was inaugurated in Marseille by a panel of
distinguished personalities from the political and civil society areas. The Parliamentary Assembly of
the Mediterranean, as a full member of the Anna Lindh Network, is among the regional organization
present at the Forum. The event brings together around a thousand representatives of civil society,
young people, artists, locally-elected officials and economic players from both shores of the
Mediterranean.
PAM Vice President, Hon. Michel Vauzelle, in his remarks highlighted the importance of the value
of the Mediterranean which, in this event, was represented from North to South. He also referred to
the Israeli Palestinian conflict and its human geographical factor, as well as migration and the notion
of welcoming the Southerners in the North and make them feel welcome instead of reject ing them
and marginalizing them. The fate of the Mediterranean is shared by all, and what happens in the
South is felt in the North just the same. “We need a Mediterranean Spring and a European Spring,
where young people coming from the South find in Europe a welcoming home”, Hon. Vauzelle
concluded.
The forum organised every three years by the Anna Lindh Foundation, is aimed at providing an
innovative and participative space for debate, networking and good practice exchange on intercultural
dialogue initiatives. It is also a platform for unique perspectives, and the participation of people from
diverse origins, cultures and beliefs who can turn new ideas into action following the Forum.
PAM President, Sen. Amoruso will also hold a bilateral meeting with the President of the Anna
Lindh Foundation, Dr. André Azoulay, with whom further structured cooperation will be discussed,
in line with PAM’s vision to work closer with the civil society representatives, and in order to
broaden its spectrum of collaboration at the international level, as it has already done with the UN
Alliance of Civilisations.