Arab Spring Inspired European Nations; Former Spanish FM Says

Doha, May 22 (QNA) - Arab Spring events have been inspirational to Europe to see how people there fight for their rights and democracy, former Spanish Minister of foreign affairs Trinidad Jimenez said. "It s been important to European citizens to see how Arab people were able to express themselves in the streets in demonstrations in a peaceful way," Jimenez told Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the sidelines of the 12th Doha Forum. "They are looking for freedom, democracy and equality and these are very important to us. It made us feel very close to them and we really want to support them in a way to fulfill their commitment," she added. Speaking of how countries in the region would be able to move toward building democracy, she stressed on respecting the minorities and the diverse ways of thinking. Jimenez believed that democracy is indeed compatible with Islam. "We can see different Islamic governments as in Turkey, having Islamic party in power yet they are successful," she said. Also speaking to QNA, Robin Mills, head of consulting at (Manaar Energy), an Energy consulting and project management firm at the UAE, highlighted Qatar's hosting of the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 18/CMP 8) later this year in November. He stressed that Qatar has a noticeable role in addressing the climate change, and has been working with the other GCC countries to help tackle this issue. Mills indicated that Qatar, the largest supplier of LNG that will replace the use of coal as a source of energy by 2040, will benefit a lot from such a transition economically and environmentally, as LNG is considered an environmentally friendly source of energy as it produces less CO2 emissions. (QNA)