“Here You Come Again!”

The song title from several years ago, made famous by Dolly Parton, kind of says it all about this little news item.

This week, the French Foreign Ministry announced that the Union for the Mediterranean, a project aimed at boosting ties between the European Union and Mediterranean states, is to be formally revived at the end of this month.

The project, which was first proposed by then EU President Nicolas Sarkozy and came into being this time last year, has been filled with difficulties.             

Northern European countries disliked the idea of EU funds being spent on a grandiose scheme that would show favoritism to southern members of the union. So membership was increased to accommodate the entire European Union.

Arab nations also signaled their unwillingness to join the union due to Israel's inclusion in the group, fearing their participation might lend legitimacy to Israel's right to exist. But Arab opposition to the project was overcome when the EU offered the Arab League observer status within the new organization.

The EU also sweetened the deal for Israel, increasing its representation within the group. Libya refused to join the union over Israel's inclusion, and instead was granted observer status until Gaddafi changes his mind. And it seems that the recent thaw in relations between Libya and Italy may pave the way for Libyan membership in the Mediterranean Union.

Now with a new American administration in power that is seeking to repair its reputation in the Muslim world, the EU is aiming to revive its Mediterranean project with a goal to kick-starting the peace process and expanding its sphere of influence over the region.

Sarkozy's vision of the Union for the Mediterranean is nothing less than a revival of the old Roman Empire itself. The French President claimed in February 2007, “Within every man and woman who lives on the shores of the Mediterranean sleeps the memory, nostalgia, for the unity lost 15 centuries ago”. He added that he wanted to be “the president of a France that will set the Mediterranean on the path of its reunification, after 12 centuries of division”. That vision is also shared by other politicians involved in the European Union project.

Last year European Commission President Manuel Barroso, when questioned on exactly what the European project hoped to achieve, claimed that the EU was the world's first “non-imperial empire”. Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak, who famously called for a man, “be he god or devil“, to lift the nations out of the economic morass into which they were sinking, was a signatory to the Treaty of Rome which established the institutions of the European Union. When asked how he felt when signing the treaty, he said, “we felt like Romans on that day... We were consciously recreating the Roman Empire once more”.

The Bible states that, “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Daniel 2:44.

Bible prophecy is happening right before our eyes and they are road signs pointing to the return of Jesus Christ. I can almost hear the words to the song now… “Here He comes again!”