The proposed Union for the Mediterranean (UPM), whose inaugural summit is slated for Paris this Sunday, will mark a major step in efforts to boost political dialogue in the region, visiting Spanish Foreign Minister has said.
"The union is intended, as a primary objective, to raise the level of political dialogues between countries in the region," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is currently here on an official visit, told reporters Wednesday.
"Spain expects that the UPM will hold a summit every two years to take stock of what has been accomplished and establish future strategies, especially in the field of political dialogue," said Moratinos at a press conference addressed jointly with his Algerian counterpart Mourad Medelci.
In addition, the UPM will work to establish new institutions in a bid to foster a fair partnership between the two shores of the Mediterranean basin and identify concrete projects to bring the sides together, he said.
On his part, the Algerian foreign minister said that the holding of a Mediterranean Forum in Algiers in June had enabled many countries to seek and obtain various clarifications on the proposed union.
"This demand for clarification has never been one of the conditions for the participation of Algeria in the Paris summit," he said, adding that there is a consensus that the UPM must have an "added value" in relation to the process Barcelona.
The so-called Barcelona Process, which became moribund after it was bogged down by several controversies, was mooted by the European Union as part of efforts to foster closer ties with its neighbors, especially the Mediterranean ones, according to official sources.
"The UPM could provide a framework for addressing issues that have not been sufficiently addressed by the Barcelona process," said Medelci, calling on both sides of the Mediterranean to work together to overcome common challenges such as immigration and terrorism.
"We must create an atmosphere that is conducive for discussing some problems and challenges such as the movement of people across the two Mediterranean shores," said the Algerian minister, adding that this was a major source of concern for southern countries.
Shortly before the start of the briefing, the Spanish minister and his Algerian counterpart had taken part in a ceremony where the two countries exchanged the instruments of ratification of the Algerian-Spanish agreement on extradition signed in December 2006,thereby bringing it into force.
The Spanish foreign minister arrived Wednesday morning in Algiers as part of a working visit to Algeria. The minister, according to diplomatic sources, is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with senior government officials.
Source:Xinhua
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