(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Representatives from the EU and southern neighboring countries agreed Monday on need of coordinating and working together to confront security challenges facing the two sides, and said they should focus more on things that unite them.
EU foreign police chief Federica Mogherini said the Mediterranean was one of the most turbulent areas in the world now, and called for deepening cooperation between north and south of the Mediterranean to confront common challenges and threats.
Mogherini was speaking at a joint news conference with Foreign Ministers of Spain, Latvia, Jordan and Egypt at end of an informal meeting regarding the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), in Barcelona.
The meeting brought together representatives of the EU's 28 member countries, and from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Israel and Lebanon.
Mogherini called for cementing economic cooperation between the EU and countries in southern Mediterranean to contribute to economic propserity. She said providing jobs for the EU and Arab youth coupled with good economic conditions would help face radical ideologies posed by the terrorist and extremist groups.
She said the informal meeting aimed at reviewing the ENP because new circumstances in the region compel the two sides to adopt new policies to face them.
Mogherini said the two sides discussed security and economic challenges, in addition to cooperation in domains of education, energy, trade, economy, illegal immigration and protection of refugees specially those fleeing conflicts in Syria and Libya.
She said a meeting would be held in the Latvian capital on May 21-22 to discuss the ENP with East Europe.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, for his part, said terrorism should not be linked with religion. He added that the Muslim world was a victim of extremist and terrorist Islamist movements.
Elimination of terrorism should take place by addressing the root causes of the problem, he said.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said the number of countries contributing to the war against terrorism was a clear evidence "that we are witnessing a global multi-dimensional war which require common solutions." He called for addressing the problems of youth "so they will not easy prey for terrorist ideologies." Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri called for reviewing the neighborhood policy with the EU, which he considered as a strategic partner of the Arab countries.
Today's meeting, he added, was held at a time the region was facing dangerous challenges requiring collective work to form new foundations for the neighborhood policies.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, at the opening of today's meeting, said "jihadi terrorism" was posing a direct threat to Europe, in addition to illegal immigration.
This was the first meeting since November 2008, when foreign ministers of 34 EU and Mediterranean countries placed final touches on the Union of the Mediterranean.
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