The Arabs revolutions came to Europe as struggle against austerity.

The relations between the North and South of the Mediterranean will depend on those who make them, whether they will be between peoples or between neo-liberal governments that represent the interests of capitalism. With this approach and with the goal of the construction of an alternative to the theory of the "clash of civilizations" was introduced one of the seminars organized by Transform!, in the World Social Forum in Tunisia, that registered great participation of Tunisian youth.

The deputy of Syriza, Vasilis Xatzilamprou, when speaking of the relationship between the countries of the two shores, stated that in the 80s and 90s the partners were the dictators of the Southern Mediterranean, supported by the European governments, the same dictators expelled by the Arab revolutions.

Maite Mola, Vice President of the Party of the European Left (EL), pointed out that sometimes dictators are defeated but not the dictatorships. She added that "North and South of the Mediterranean have the same problem: capitalism, which murders us". She spoke about geo-strategic challenges and how the imperialist wars destroy Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, the Sahara and Ukraine to “Balkanize” the region and control the resources. She highlighted the need to work for peace as well.

Vasilis analysed how the imperialist wars justify themselves with the recreation of the concept of “war of civilizations”, when the reality is that the Mediterranean civilisations are very rich in their different languages, cultures and peoples. That's why, he said, the answer should necessary be given from the internationalism, on behalf of the interests of the peoples and not of the capitalism. And he explained that one way to make this into practice is the platforms created by the Party of the European Left, as the Mediterranean Forum: unite social movements, trade unions and left-wing parties. "The challenge is enormous, but we are working on it, and today Greece and Spain debate on the restructuring of the debt".

Christine Mendelshon, member of the French Communist Party and the EL, introduced the seminar, arguing the importance of the Arab revolutions to create reaction against austerity in Europe, especially in Greece and in Spain. Syriza is today the hope for all peoples, not only in Europe but in the whole Mediterranean and all around the world, and from here think about the necessity to support the Greek people and Syriza government in these crucial months.

The internationalism was present in Maite Mola’s speech as well, talking about the construction of regional spaces of the left, such as the Forum of Sao Paolo in Latin America, or the one built in Africa: "We must continue with these regional structures to, slowly but surely, reach a global construction".

And the first step is to overcome the inbred vision created by the crisis. She gave the example of Spain, her country, to illustrate how in a situation of social emergency people only cares about what they are going to eat next day: "that is precisely what capitalism wants". She concluded that the answer is to "work on common alternatives, as we are doing in this World Social Forum and will continue doing in the Forum of Alternatives organized by the Party of the European Left for May 30-31 in Paris".