UfM intensifies push for Euro-Mediterranean multilateralism amid shifting global dynamics at Granada Forum
4 April 2025, Granada. Union for the Mediterranean Secretary General Nasser Kamel reiterated the need for strengthened Euro-Mediterranean cooperation at the Forum on the Future of the Mediterranean in the Andalusian city of Granada. Organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM, the two-day event brought together speakers, deputy speakers and representatives of the parliaments of the organisation’s 43 Member States as well as the European Parliament and organisations such as NATO, OSCE, IPU or the Council of Europe. With opening speeches by Spain’s HM King Felipe VI and Speaker of the Congress of Deputies Francina Armengol as well the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, participants discussed the key regional challenges of peace and stability, migration, climate change, youth employment, and gender equality.
“Europe’s stability and prosperity cannot be achieved without cooperating on equal footing with its eastern and southern neighbours and vice versa, especially given the current global paradigm shifts eroding the rules-based order and multilateralism,” said UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel. “Regional issues cannot be dealt with in isolation. Revitalising multilateral cooperation strengthens the Mediterranean and plays a crucial role in restoring global stability and order.”
The UfM Secretary General welcomed the creation of an EU portfolio dedicated to the Mediterranean coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a landmark regional initiative stemming from the hope of shared peace in the Middle East, and the ongoing reform of the organisation. According to him, and as stated in the Declaration of Granada, reinforcing regional partnerships, policies and institutions such as the UfM should be prioritised as a means of making peace, stability, dialogue and respect for international order, as well as political, economic and social development a reality.
