Brussels, 20/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain have each affirmed their full support for the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The organisation's activities have been relaunched after several years of stalling, despite the current uncertain context. Its minister for foreign affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil, has called on the EU to take action against Islamic fundamentalism, particularly by way of making a greater commitment to supporting political transition through economic aid. On Wednesday, 19 September during a visit of the UfM secretariat general to Barcelona, the Spanish press quoted the minister as saying that “Islam and democracy are totally compatible”.
In this perspective, the minister is calling on the UfM, “to play the role of central interlocutor between the north and south of the Mediterranean”. He considers the organisation as a “useful tool” in the solution of conflicts such as the one currently raging in Syria. He said that Spain was fully committed to making the UfM into an “exclusive channel” for support to the southern Mediterranean. He also referred to growing threats in North Africa and the West and provided a very measured view of the situation in each of the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. (FB/trans.fl)