Algeria 
Bahrain 
Egypt 
Iran 
Iraq 
Israel 
Jordan 
Kuwait 
Lebanon 
Libya 
Morocco 
Oman 
Palestine * 
Qatar 
Saudi Arabia 
Syria 
Tunisia 
United Arab Emirates 
Yemen Union for the Mediterranean stresses unity and economic cooperation
November 27, 2015
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The Co-presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean – the EU and Jordan – and its 43 Member states called for unity and collective work to face the challenges of the Mediterranean region and gave a strong political commitment to the UfM at a Ministerial meeting held on 26 November in Barcelona.
Speaking at a press conference after the first session Federica Mogherini said that countries in the region were facing “hard times” but they “shared geography and history” and faced the same issues such as terrorism, radicalization and migratory flows. She called for unity to solve these problems. High Representative Mogherni said they also discussed common challenges – “Syria, Libya and the Israel-Palestine dispute”.
Better economic integration of the Mediterranean is a priority in tackling terrorism, radicalisation and migration, added Mogherini pointing that out that 90% of all trade in the area is within Europe and only 1% across the southern shore of the Mediterranean to the Arab world.
Ongoing UfM projects focus on practical issues such as youth, employment, education, women and human rights. During the conference, the UfM project “Réseau Entreprendre en Méditerranée” was officially launched under the framework of the Med4Jobs initiative. The project seeks to support the creation of “Réseau Entreprendre” business associations in Morocco and Tunisia to provide mentoring to new business starters with entrepreneurial potential. (EU Neighbourhood Info)
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