MADRID, Nov 27 (KUNA) -- Foreign ministers from the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) member states will discuss the future of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation at the 10th UfM Regional Forum on Friday, as part of the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, which laid the foundations for Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and cooperation.
The forum will be held at the UfM headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, under the theme "Together for a Stronger Euro-Mediterranean Partnership," and will bring together 43 countries to celebrate three decades of collective commitment to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Mediterranean region.
It will also address pressing current challenges, including unemployment, the rising cost of living, climate change, and water scarcity.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry stated that Foreign Minister Jose Albarez will host his counterparts from the UfM to discuss the most pressing challenges in the region, particularly the worrying situation in the Middle East.
The ministerial meeting will be chaired by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and the Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, hosted by Albarez and Secretary General of UfM Nasser Kamel, with the attendance of European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.
The ministers participating in the forum will adopt a new strategic vision for the UfM centered on three key dimensions, connecting people through education, mobility, skills, and inclusion, connecting countries through dialogue, climate resilience, and energy and water security, and connecting economies through trade, investment, infrastructure, and digital cooperation.
The EU will also launch the Pact for the Mediterranean during the ministerial-level meeting, which is expected to receive political support from the EU and its Southern Mediterranean partners, Kamel and Albarez will sign the new agreement for the headquarters of the UfM Secretariat.
In a statement from UfM Kamel noted that this year's forum marks a turning point for the UfM, with the adoption of a new strategic vision that reinforces their role as a key platform for collective action and dialogue in the region, connecting peoples, countries, and economies.
The UfM is a Euro-Mediterranean intergovernmental organization headquartered in Barcelona, that brings together all EU member states and 16 countries from the southern and eastern Mediterranean and serves as a platform for promoting regional cooperation and dialogue.
The Barcelona Process was a historic initiative that sought to unite countries on both sides of the Mediterranean in a partnership within a legal and contractual framework to address shared challenges in the areas of politics, security, trade, the economy, and social and cultural partnership, representing a qualitative shift in Arab-European relations. (end) hnd.res