Best wishes for the new year 2025

Dear friends, Colleagues, Partners and subscribers. As we welcome 2025, I extend my heartfelt wishes for health, peace, and prosperity to you all. While this new year begins amidst tensions and challenges, it also brings with it glimmers of hope and the opportunity to chart a more promising course for the future.

The recent attacks on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, the vehicle-ramming incident in New Orleans, and the car bombing in Las Vegas are tragic reminders that violence and hatred still strike indiscriminately, spreading fear and despair. Such barbaric acts have no place in our societies. Our collective determination to confront them must remain unwavering, with a firm and unified stand against terrorism wherever it occurs, whether in the West or elsewhere in the world. These heinous crimes, and the perpetrators behind them, betray the fundamental values of humanity and must be condemned without hesitation or ambiguity.

Yet amidst this darkness, there are reasons to be hopeful. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime marks a turning point for a region long plagued by violence and authoritarianism. This moment offers a chance to envision a more humane and inclusive future for the Middle East—one that upholds human rights, embraces diversity, and offers greater opportunities to minorities who have suffered for far too long. A new wind of hope is blowing through the region, and it is imperative that this message resonates not only in the South but also in the North of the Mediterranean.

For Europe, this is a moment of reckoning. Too often, transactional imperatives have overshadowed the deeper need for genuine partnership and cooperation with its southern neighbors. If Europe wishes to effectively tackle the technological, competitive, environmental, and security challenges of our time, it must embrace a bold and transformative approach. A true win-win Pact must be built, one that prioritizes mutual respect and long-term investment in shared prosperity.

Such a partnership requires moving beyond anti-migration measures and focusing on building capacity and fostering opportunity with a long term vision. Together, Europe and the southern Mediterranean can create tangible economic and social initiatives that boost competitiveness, unleash the private sector creativity, and address the root causes of migration, ensuring stability and dignity for all. This vision must be rooted in shared values of justice, humanity, and solidarity, proving that ethical leadership can be both principled and pragmatic.

Under Poland’s presidency, Europe has an opportunity to lead by example. By championing a new era of ethics and cooperation, Europe can reposition itself as a beacon of hope and a model of human rights. The path forward demands courage, compassion, and a willingness to bridge divides—both within and beyond the Mediterranean.

For 2025, I express the hope that we will seize this moment of opportunity. Let us find the balance between firmness and humanity, between determination and compassion. The future of our societies depends on our ability to combine these imperatives and build a world that is safer, fairer, and more unified.

Happy New Year to all. May 2025 be a year of peace, justice, and solidarity, and a time to rekindle hope for a better tomorrow in our neighborhood.

Ghazi Ben Ahmed