Patten warns of ‘clash of civilisations’

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten warned there will be a clash of civilisations unless stability can be brought to central and Mideast.

Launching proposals for greater EU involvement with the UN, Mr Patten said that the survival of the multilateral system was now an issue.

He said that it was difficult not to be pessimistic about the situation in the region including Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Palestine.

“If we are to prevent the clash of civilisations coming true there is a big challenge for us in Europe and America and unless we are capable of rising to it the prospects are pretty grim for years ahead,” he told a press conference in Brussels yesterday.

The strategy document released yesterday in advance of next week’s UN General Assembly in New York calls for EU members to better co-ordinate their positions in advance of discussions at the various UN bodies.

The document will be discussed by the member states and the European Parliament over the coming months.