(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 27 - ''It seems to be that in this
stage of the crisis, Italy is suffering from the 'south Italy
syndrome', responding as the south has always done: focusing on
the emergency without thinking about the future." This remark
was made by the president of the Calabria Region, Giuseppe
Scopelliti, during the conference "Italy for the Mediterranean
region - information and development". The conference was
organised by ANSA in the context of the 21st general assembly of
AMAN, the Alliance of Mediterranean Press Agencies.
''Politics must be able to look ahead and think about the
future,'' Scopelliti underlined, ''and look over national
borders, where great opportunities are waiting to be developed,
especially in the south of the Mediterranean area." The role our
diplomacy can play in this context is important, he continued,
thanks to the ''dynamism of our ambassadors." But the role of
single regions is also important, according to Scopelliti, as
well as the coordinating role of the committee of Regions in
European context.
The regions, he added, have the possibility to ''strengthen
ties'' with the southern shore in fields like economic
cooperation, SMEs, civil defence, city planning and
universities, "developing these fields." Issues like
immigration, the fight against terrorism and the Middle East can
be left to supranational organisations like the Union for the
Mediterranean, where the work done by this organisation so far
''has not had any impact on our region."
''We have been saying for decades that our future lies in the
south,'' Scopelliti concluded, ''and now the time for hesitation
is over." (ANSAmed).
