(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The EU must boost its influence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to spur long-term political and economic stability there, the European Parliament said in a resolution passed on Thursday.
Given the strategic importance of the region and its security to the EU and the rapidly deteriorating situation, the EP calls for stronger EU engagement with the regional actors such as the League of Arab States (LAS), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as Turkey and Iran to solve the crises in Syria, Iraq or Yemen. The international community and MENA governments must do more to prevent financing of terrorism, including through efficient system of penalties to stop the financing of ISIL and the commercialisation of illegally produced oil, according to the resolution passed by 400 votes to 98.
The resolution calls on EU member states to increase their mobilisation in military, logistical, financial and humanitarian spheres in addressing the conflicts in the MENA region, and for better coordination of their efforts, namely in fighting ISIL. It says the EU should become the main facilitator of a regional dialogue involving all regional stakeholders and calls on the EU Foreign policy chief to ensure a constant high level dialogue with there. The EU must also step-up its engagement in the stalled Middle East Peace process, it stressed.
The resolution argues that the lack of democracy is among the key causes of political instability in the region and that the respect for human rights and basic democratic principles is the strongest safeguard in the long term against the chronic instability there. It added that the recruitment capacity of ISIL and Al-Nustra Front are fuelled by the economic, political, social and cultural crisis affecting the region and stress the need for EU support in finding a sustainable solution to them to effectively neutralise ISIL. (end)
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