Brussels, 19/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to Youssef Amrani, Morocco's minister delegate for foreign affairs and cooperation, the integration of the Maghreb would be, “one of the best responses to the security challenges facing the region”. The former secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) also said that Europe could help towards achieving this goal. On Saturday 17 November in Tangiers, in a declaration quoted by the official MAP agency, the minister delegate asserted that, “a coherent and strong Maghreb would be in a better position to defend itself against terrorist threats” (our translation throughout).
Amrani considers that, “a new global security architecture must be based on a more coherent approach at both international and regional levels”. In his opinion, “through its neighbourhood policy and member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean, the European Union is urged to play a crucial role” in this connection. This architecture will be based on, “a global approach linking security measures and more far reaching responses to establish the basis for human and economic development and to consolidate the democratic project”.
The minister delegate made a direct reference to threats affecting the Sahel-Sahara borders and according to the MAP agency advocated, “a political solution, together with military pressure for liberating northern Mali from terrorist groups, whilst promoting a proactive approach at a regional level under the guidance of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)”.
According to our same sources, the former Spanish minster for foreign affairs and cooperation, Trinidad Jiménez, attended this organisation's event and underlined, “the need for concerted and co-ordinated international cooperation”. She also said that they needed, “a coalition of forces and close inter-state coordination, as well as that between intelligence services, in order to be able to tackle terrorist threats”. (FB/trans/fl)