Felipe VI: “Alliance of Civilizations is the implementation of the diplomacy of values”

Eduardo González King Felipe VI presided over the opening ceremony of the tenth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) on Tuesday, in which he stated that, in the current global context, diplomacy is “more necessary than ever” and, in this sense, “the Alliance of Civilizations is the implementation of the diplomacy of values”. The Portuguese town of Cascais is hosting this week the tenth UNAOC Global Forum under the motto ‘United in peace: restoring trust, reconfiguring the future: reflection on two decades of dialogue in favour of humanity’. The meeting, which will discuss the achievements of the Alliance of Civilizations since its creation twenty years ago and will outline the plan for “One Humanity” in the coming years, brings together members of the UNAOC Group of Friends, political leaders, representatives of international and regional organizations, religious leaders and religious actors. Representatives of the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, the arts, the media, donor agencies and foundations also attend. The idea of the Alliance of Civilizations was promoted by former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2004. The proposal was taken up by the then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and on July 14, 2005, the Alliance was officially launched under the patronage of Zapatero and the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Spain and Turkey remain the main political and financial supporters of the Alliance, which has around 130 member states. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who was Foreign Minister under Zapatero between 2004 and 2010, has held the position of High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations since January 2019. The King, who travelled accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, participated in the inauguration ceremony together with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Hakan Fidan. During the inauguration, the King gave a speech in which he stated that, in “a world of increasing complexity” such as the current one, “the seeds of disagreement sometimes nest in the small details of human relations: in ignorance, prejudice and mistrust”, details that, “if not detected in time and addressed with care, subtlety and sensitivity, can turn into open conflicts and end up affecting the population of entire regions of the globe”. “It is precisely now, in this world of the 21st century, when diplomacy, that peaceful tool that seeks understanding, and if possible harmony, and that since time immemorial has channeled relations between peoples, is more necessary than ever”, he continued. The instruments of traditional diplomacy, he stated, “continue to be enormously useful, and the proof is everything that classic multilateralism has done for peace and global stability”, but, “on their own, they are no longer enough for us”. “Diplomacy in its most traditional sense must be complemented by new actors, new areas of action and, more importantly, new challenges” and “this is where the instruments of preventive diplomacy focused on intercultural and interreligious dialogue, such as the Alliance of Civilizations, make all their sense.” “It is very necessary to raise our vision much higher to better and more deeply understand everything that unites us and should matter to us as humanity in order to live better and in peace on this planet that we share” and, in this sense, “the Alliance of Civilizations is the implementation of what has been called ‘the diplomacy of values’, because “it has the person as its central axis and devotes its efforts to breaking down walls, building bridges, sharing spaces to make the motto of ‘many cultures, one humanity’ a reality,” he said. The Forum will conclude on Wednesday with the closing ceremony, in which Moratinos and the representatives of Spain and Turkey will speak, and with the holding of a press conference on the results of the meeting. Albares During his speech at the inaugural session of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations, Albares argued for greater involvement of civil society, young people, women, religious leaders, corporations and the media in initiatives that promote intercultural dialogue and tolerance for peace. The Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations brings together representatives of governments, international organizations, religious leaders, politicians, civil society, foundations, academia, the private sector and young people. The objective of this meeting is to address the main issues of intercultural dialogue at the moment, which is why he argued that civil society must gain weight and play a decisive role. Albares, who spoke at this meeting alongside Guterres, Moratinos and their Turkish and Portuguese counterparts, stressed that the work of foundations, associations and universities in promoting intercultural understanding and identifying problems and solutions is “fundamental” and that they therefore have a privileged role in the Alliance of Civilizations, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry. He also valued the Alliance of Civilizations as “an instrument to address the challenges presented to us by an increasingly intercultural, complex and interconnected world”, and expressed his hope that this Cascais Forum will be a valuable contribution of ideas, initiatives and projects for the future work of the Alliance of Civilizations and in favour of the common responsibility of the countries that form it for a Culture of Peace. The minister took advantage of his presence at the forum to hold bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Iran, Morocco, with the Secretary General of the UN and with Moratinos. In addition, he accompanied the King in the bilateral meeting with the President of Portugal.

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