UfM Secretary General Fathallah Sijilmassi meets HRVP Federica Mogherini
Strasbourg, 7 July 2016. Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of European Commission met today with the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Fathallah Sijilmassi, to exchange views on activities of the UfM.
HRVP Mogherini and Secretary General Sijilmassi discussed the preparations for the second UfM Regional Forum – an annual conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs from all 43 UfM Member states (due in November). Secretary General Sijilmassi informed the High Representative/Vice President about the progress in preparation of the UfM Road Map, a strategic document which will provide the framework for the work of the UfM in the future.
During the meeting, HRVP Mogherini commended the work of the UfM in facilitating practical cooperation between all actors in the Mediterranean, including through holding of sectorial Ministerial Meetings on topics crucial for the region, such as Cooperation and Planning (meeting took place in June 2016 in Jordan), and its work in successfully implementing UfM labelled regional projects. She stressed the need for further joint efforts in addressing the needs and challenges of our common region. In coherence with the reviewed European Neighborhood Policy and the recently presented EU Global strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, the role of the UfM in contributing effectively to the strengthening of the Security-Development nexus is more important than ever.
Since the EU took over the Co-Presidency of the UfM in 2012, eight sectoral Ministerial Conferences have been held, and the first UfM Regional Forum was organised in Barcelona in 2015. The UfM has also “labelled” 45 regional projects worth over €5 billion.
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