Brussels, 23/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Europe must pay more attention to the policies conducted towards the countries of the southern rim of the Mediterranean and to the region as a whole, at a time when the situation in a good number of these countries remains uncertain, following the upheaval of the Arab Spring. That is one of the messages Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi wants his fellow EU ministers, meeting in the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday 23 January, to take on board.
Italy believes it is important that, alongside political cooperation, there is meaningful discussion between the EU and countries of the southern rim of the Mediterranean on issues such as employment, immigration and regional integration, as part of an overall approach which includes all aspects of relations between the two regions. It is with this in mind that, following visits by Terzi to Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and also to Turkey and the Gulf States, Italy will hold a “5+5” meeting of the foreign ministers of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Malta and their opposite numbers from Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania, in Naples on 20 February. (FG/transl.rt)