WASHINGTON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The United States cautiously welcomed on Monday the summit of European Union (EU) and Mediterranean countries, which also brought together top leaders of Israel, the Palestinian authorities, Syria and Lebanon.

    "We don't have an observer there. We don't have a place at the table. But I think, generally, it's an effort that we can, at the least, be supportive of," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

    "What the specific outcomes of this grouping will be, you now, we'll see. We'll see. But it would appear that they had a good first meeting," the spokesman noted.

    Leaders from all the 27 EU member states and 16 North African, Middle East and Western Balkan countries launched in Paris, France, the Union for the Mediterranean on Sunday, aimed at boosting cooperation between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East through a series of regional projects.

    The delegates approved six cooperation projects: the de-pollution of the Mediterranean, the building of maritime and coastal land highways, the fight against disasters, a solar energy program, an EU-Mediterranean university and a business development initiative.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese President Michel Sleimane attended the summit.

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who spearheaded the Union for the Mediterranean, boasted the summit meeting as a great success, saying that "It was an extraordinary gamble to bring together in the same room all the countries of Europe and the Mediterranean."