A Berlin Wall is falling in the Arab world. And Europe sleeps

While Egypt, which has another strategic place than Tunisia (key position on the Suez Canal which drains a large part of the world traffic of goods and energy, in the peace process in the Middle East, in Africa and on the Nile basin, geographical proximity to Gaza, Sudan, etc.), experiencing a political earthquake, Europe experienced a long silent weekend. Admittedly, we very quickly had, on Friday, a declaration by Cathy Ashton, the High Representative of the EU, well balanced, and calling for calm. A written statement. And that was it. Nothing else. No oral statement. No impromptu press conference. No "descent" into the televisions as Hillary Clinton did throughout Sunday by multiplying the interviews.

"Caution" is in order

Why ? But let's see. We have a Council of Foreign Ministers on Monday. Might as well wait. We must act " with caution “, as recalled (Friday) a senior European diplomat in front of several journalists considering that the developments in the Arab world would perhaps not appear on the agenda of the Ministers on Monday: “ There is a thought to be had. It takes a bit of time. You have to go beyond the first reactions. Each country has its particularity. Tunisia is not Algeria which is not Egypt. We must take into account the context of each country to adapt our aid and our relations. ". He is surely right. It is wise.

Even when a Berlin wall falls?

Let's give "time to time". This good old rule is useful. But there are times when when the story speeds up, you have to speed up the time for reflection. Who can predict what will be Tunisia or Egypt in 15 days or 3 months. Who can say whose turn it will be tomorrow: Yemen, Jordan or Iran, Gabon, Sudan... Not many people. But, what seems certain is that there is a change in heads, in ways of thinking. We move on to another phase. Like a falling Berlin wall.

A little heat, good god!

And this weekend, we needed something more from Europe than rationality. We needed flavour, warmth, simply presence. A " We are on the side of democracy says facing the camera doesn't cost much, doesn't encumber the future. But how much it would show that Europe is not just a checkbook, procedures and "strategic partnerships". But it also has a soul and values. A small declaration, in front of the cameras, in front of the world therefore, does not take a lot of time. When we watched Al Jazeera television (English) - which leads the way in current affairs by broadcasting events in Egypt almost continuously - we did not see or feel Europe. Or have I missed something?

The revolt of the pharaohs rumbles and Europe, cradle of human rights and democracy, sleeps...

(*) we have been very clear that we want to see a transition to democracy, and we want to see the kind of steps taken that will bring that about. We also want to see an orderly transition. (...) So there are many, many steps along the journey that has been started by the Egyptian people themselves, and we wish to support that