The Diplomat The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a meeting yesterday in Barcelona with the secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, in which both analyzed the situation in the Middle East and the role that this organization can play in the future of the region. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release, the objective of both parties is to “work together to strengthen collaboration in the Mediterranean” and to “promote projects that respond to challenges such as education or climate change.” Albares and Kamel also discussed the preparations for the ninth Regional Forum of the UfM, which will take place at the end of October in Barcelona. On those same dates, the fifth ministerial meeting between the European Union and the Southern Neighbourhood will be held. “Both meetings will foster a necessary and fruitful dialogue between the partners of the European Union and the countries of the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, both in its multilateral dimension, through the UfM, and bi-regional, reflected in the European Southern Neighbourhood Policy,” the Ministry stressed. Minister Albares expressed his support for the important role that the UfM plays in the region and congratulated the organisation for ensuring the normal development of its work programme, “with the participation of all members, including Israel and Palestine, who have been present at the meetings of senior officials and sectoral platforms”. The meeting between the two also allowed them to analyse the growing role of the UfM in high-level political forums, such as the United Nations Security Council and the recent High-Level Conference on Gaza. In this regard, the Minister of Foreign Affairs showed Spain's firm commitment to the organisation, both in the open debate on its reform and strengthening, to be more effective in responding to the challenges of the region, and in the contributions to guarantee its normal functioning. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is an intergovernmental institution that brings together the 27 Member States of the European Union and sixteen countries from the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean to promote dialogue and cooperation. It is based in Barcelona and, over the last year, has increased its political presence in different forums for debate on the situation in the Middle East. Some of its members have shown interest in the UfM contributing to the stabilisation and reconstruction of Gaza.
