Alain Juppé, French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs reiterates France’s support to the Union For the Mediterranean

Paris- The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean held talks with Mr. Alain Juppé, French State Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, during which the Minister re-affirmed France’s strong support to Mr. Sijilmassi’s mission.

During the meeting, Minister Juppé and Secretary General Sijilmassi exchanged views on the state of play of the UfM projects, and the new governance, in light of the assuming of the European Commission of the northern Co-presidency of the UfM, as well as on strategies and priorities for future actions.

Earlier this week, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France stressed that: “the UfM is more than ever a useful tool, and France strongly believes in the UfM. The Arab Spring gives additional reasons to move forward in this process. The UfM should be a collective efforts and actions by all the country members”.

From his end, Secretary General Sijilmassi commented: “I fully share the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ views, and I believe that the UfM framework is an increasingly useful tool to implement closer regional cooperation. It is of utmost political importance given the evolutions in the region. It must operate as a catalyst to bring states, International Financial Institutions, and the private sector together around concrete socio-economic projects of strategic importance to generate jobs, innovation and growth throughout the Mediterranean region. To that effect, the new EU co-presidency of the UFM will strengthen this process”

Read more on the declarations of the Spokesperson of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry