Middle East-North Africa crisis overshadows G8 summit

Nuclear safety, the world economic outlook and especially the situation in North Africa and the Middle East - are important issues that G8 leaders will discuss at the traditional meeting that just opened in Deauville, France.

The heads of state of the world's leading economies have begun their meeting amid the need for the powers to unite to face the challenges of modern life: the wave of uprisings in North Africa, the Western coalition campaign against Libya, the tragedy in Japan, the global crisis, and the economic difficulties in some European countries.

US President Barack Obama took the opportunity of the meeting to emphasize his call for international support to help countries in the region “embrace political and economic reform.”

David Lipton, one of President Obama's economic advisers, told reporters yesterday that the US considered discussions on the Middle East and North Africa "among the most important things" to be completed at the summit.

Mr. Lipton said G-8 leaders will have the opportunity to discuss with the three representatives of Egypt and Tunisia and the head of the Arab League their plans and aspirations for change, and ways in which the international community can help.

President Obama is also expected to discuss with other leaders NATO's military operations in Libya, "with the aim of protecting civilians from attacks by Gadhafi's soldiers."

Within the framework of the Summit, a series of bilateral meetings are expected to take place in a “one-on-one” format, in which leaders of member countries will discuss key issues of inter-state relations.

Notably, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to continue working toward an agreement on US missile defense plans, but it is clear that the two leaders have many other issues to resolve.

One of the pressing issues on the agenda concerns the global communications network Internet. The leaders of the G8 Group plan to discuss cyber terrorism and the protection of personal data.

It is no coincidence that before the Summit, at the initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the International Internet Forum was held in Paris, where the same topics were discussed as the agenda of the G8 leaders in Deauville.

According to Dan Tri