(By correspondent Chiara De Felice) (ANSAmed) - PARIS, JULY 14 - So far only ancient Romans had achieved this but now Nicolas Sarkozy also made it: the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has been created under the lucky star of the handshake between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the return of Syria on the scene of international diplomacy. A smiling French President made the announcement: ''This is a historic moment, a dream that is coming true, we will turn the Mediterranean into an area of peace and will build what we have built with the European Union''. UfM, launched yesterday by 43 heads of state and government of Euro-Mediterranean countries, will become operative by end 2008 and its final structure will be decided by the countries Foreign Ministers in November. ''The biggest success of the summit is the participation of everyone, the Arab countries seated beside to Israel, and the second success is that we have approved a declaration unanimously,'' Sarkozy said, playing down information that during the summit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left the hall just before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made his address. The conflict in the Middle East, which has threatened with inactivity the Euro-Mediterranean partnership since the very beginning, again was in the centre of the summit of the 44 leaders from all corners of the Mediterranean. However, Sarkozy tried the impossible and succeeded in the challenge: ''If France does not take risks it betrays its ideals,'' he said, after announcing that the French presidency of the EU will engage Brussels, ''so far absent'', in the process for achieving Israeli-Arab peace. The long-time great enemies Syria, Israel and PNA, received the promises of the host with gratitude and hope. The summit, which concentrated mainly on the political elements of UfM rather than on the organisational, has left many issues unsolved, including the seat of the UfM secretariat, for which Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus and Morocco are competing. The new Union will have two presidents: France, until December (then it will be replaced by the next EU presidency) and Egypt, which will have a two-year term. This partnership ''is based on concrete projects'', the final declaration reads, and among those will be launched as soon as possible two refer to the environment: clean the Mediterranean by 2020 - a programme that already exists but has been delayed due to the lack of funding - and the plan to cover Maghreb deserts with solar panels. Common civil protection will be created, to deal with emergencies (natural disasters, oil spills, boats carrying illegal immigrants) and ''sea motorways'' will be created thanks to which all ports in the Mediterranean will be connected. The issue that now has to be faced is the collection of funds, but Sarkozy has assured that this is no longer a problem ''now that we have committed to building stability in the region''.