UfM Foreign Ministers will address Middle East situation in Barcelona

Eduardo González Barcelona will host the ninth Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) on October 28, in which the foreign ministers of the 43 member states will address, among other issues, “the alarming situation in the Middle East,” according to the organization. The Forum will bring together representatives of the 43 member states of the UfM and will be co-chaired by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, and by Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan, in the presence of the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Nasser Kamel. The Forum will be hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, is invited to represent the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee. Aside from the situation in the Middle East, the ministers will discuss other issues, such as the reform of the organisation, which is due to be launched in 2023. The event will also provide an opportunity to exchange ideas on how to collectively move forward in the face of significant regional tensions. The meeting will be followed by a joint press conference with José Manuel Albares, Josep Borrell, Ayman Safadi and Nasser Kamel. Boycott of Israel in 2023 The Union for the Mediterranean is a Euro-Mediterranean intergovernmental organisation bringing together the countries of the European Union and 16 countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean, including Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. The eighth Regional Forum of the UfM, held in Barcelona on November 27, 2023, was boycotted by Israel in protest against the decision of its organizers to change the agenda to address, almost exclusively, the crisis in the Middle East. The meeting was not attended by any member of the Israeli government or its ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon. The Diplomat in Spain has tried to find out, so far without results, whether Israel will attend the event this year, which also takes place in the midst of a diplomatic conflict between Spain and the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu over the decision of Pedro Sánchez's Executive to recognize the State of Palestine. This fact, and Spain's position regarding the Middle East conflict (support for UNRWA, request for a ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and support for action by the International Court of Justice against Israel) has resulted in particularly harsh comments by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, against the Government of Pedro Sánchez. For this reason, diplomatic sources consulted by this newspaper consider that the presence of Netanyahu representatives at this meeting is highly unlikely. Euro-Mediterranean Civil Society Conference The Forum, which will be held at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, will take place after the Euro-Mediterranean Civil Society Conference, organised by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), which will take place over the weekend and will bring together more than 200 participants from more than 30 Euro-Mediterranean countries under the motto ‘Reclaiming our Shared Humanity. Countering Polarisation, Dehumanisation, and Radicalisation driven by the Middle East Conflict’. The event, organised by the IEMed with the support of the EU External Action Service and the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments of the European Commission, will also feature the participation of José Manuel Albares, Josep Borrell and the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa. The aim of the conference, according to its organisers, is to “foster dialogue and propose ways to combat polarisation, dehumanisation and radicalisation generated by the conflict in the Middle East, focusing on the role of civil society, the participation of women, the involvement of young people and the fight against hate speech”.

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