MINISTERIAL MEETING

8th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)

Twenty-seven Foreign Affairs Ministers from the Euro-Mediterranean region met up in Barcelona to discuss, in particular, the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The Forum was chaired by EU High Representative Josep Borrell and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, with the attendance of UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, representing the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee.

November 27, 2023

José Manuel Albares, hosting the meeting, delivered the Forum's opening speech, stating that the international community cannot "waste any more time" and must work towards an agreement that would "guarantee peace and security in the entire region" and "materialise once and for all the two-state solution, with the establishment of a Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel”. “It is with this objective in mind that Spain has proposed to convene an international peace conference with the parties as soon as possible", he added.

According to the minister, "Hamas should not lead Gaza", because "it does not have an agenda of peaceful coexistence" and "cannot play a role in the future in the implementation of the two-State solution", so the Palestinian Authority, which "is a partner for peace", must be empowered to take its place.

Based on the principles laid down in the 1995 Barcelona Declaration and the acquis resulting from the Barcelona Process, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was created at the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Paris on 13 July 2008. With headquarters in the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona, the UfM is the only organisation or forum outside the United Nations system that brings together all the countries bordering or with outreach in the Mediterranean.

Photos: Pepe Méndez (Nolsom)