Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a bilateral meeting yesterday in Brussels with his Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Haji Hasan, with whom he spoke about “the importance of jointly addressing global challenges such as the climate emergency.”
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the third Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum, an event organized within the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU to intensify the partnership between the two regions in order to “improve their economic, political, social, climate resilience and environmental”, according to the EU.
“We have discussed our bilateral and economic relations, EU relations with the region, and the importance of jointly addressing global challenges such as the climate emergency,” Albares declared in relation to his meeting with the Malaysian minister through the Ministry of Affairs account. Exteriors in the social network X.
The third regional forum, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, brought together nearly 70 participants from the EU institutions and EU Member States, of Indo-Pacific countries and organizations in the Indo-Pacific region, from the eastern coast of Africa to the Pacific Island States. The two previous editions were held in Paris, in February 2022, and in Stockholm, in May 2023.
At the end of the meeting, the participants in the Forum reaffirmed their determination to defend an “international order based on rules, the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law”, to work for “inclusive and sustainable economic growth and human development” and “combat, mitigate and adapt to climate change, promote and accelerate the green energy transition, address biodiversity loss and strengthen ocean governance.”
Before the start of the forum, Albares broadcast a video message through X in which stated that Indo-Pacific countries “are essential to confront global challenges, such as the fight against climate change or biodiversity.” “If we work together, we can face major challenges, such as energy security, climate change or the fight against greenhouse gases and achieve a fairer, more equal, more environmentally sustainable world,” he added.
Subsequently, the minister participated in the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, chaired by Josep Borrell and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Enrique Manalo, and in which the foreign ministers addressed key areas of cooperation between the EU and ASEAN, such as boosting trade, green initiatives, digital transition, establishing secure supply chains, the Global Gateway Initiative and evolving regional and global security. Ministers also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken at the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in December 2022, in which the EU committed to mobilizing €10 billion for connectivity projects in ASEAN under the initiative. Global Gateway.
