Mediterranean countries discussed fight against terrorism in Barcelona – Radio Bío-Bío

Ministers and senior officials of Foreign Affairs and European countries of the Mediterranean basin will meet on Monday in Barcelona to discuss the medium term, that would curb the advance of “terrorism” development projects.

During this informal meeting, one day, delegations from the 28 countries of the European Union (EU) and eight other countries of the Mediterranean basin will study how to strengthen cooperation face challenges as “extremism and terrorism, energy security and illegal immigration, “said the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn.

Hahn chair the meeting with the head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini.

“The idea is how we respond now to fear from Mediterranean countries to the terrorist threat. But this help is useless if we do not develop at the same time attracting structures to curb terrorism, responding to the needs of the population, “said a diplomatic source told AFP.

“The ENP has 16,000 million euros between 2014 and 2020, two thirds of which will be dedicated to the South,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

The aim is to define the priorities and projects of specific structures, and stop considering the countries of the southern Mediterranean as a homogeneous whole in which to apply the same recipe, he said.

For Tunisia, for example, there are plans for training personnel in the security sector and agricultural projects in the Midwest, where there are “pockets of jihadist trend.”

It also tries “to combat and contain the terrorist groups that are financed through human trafficking in the central Mediterranean in Tunisia and Egypt,” continued the diplomat.

This is the first meeting at this level since the launch in 2008 of the Union for the Mediterranean, which groups 43 countries, diplomatic sources stressed.

So far, there had been a meeting place of this caliber for “the consequences of mainly Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” a Spanish diplomat.

In principle, Israel sent its deputy foreign minister, like Morocco, while Palestine, Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan and Egypt will be represented by their foreign ministers, according to the same source .

Syria, sanctioned by the EU and Libya during the civil war, will not participate in the meeting.

On the European side, attend 22 ministers, five deputy ministers (from Greece, Bulgaria, Finland, Lithuania and Ireland) and director general, arrived in the UK.

The Prime Minister Spanish, Mariano Rajoy, and the president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, receive morning guests in Barcelona for a working session will be followed by a meal.

A follow-up meeting at the regional level is planned for June in Lebanon.