Grande-Marlaska: "Only with political dialogue, cooperation and respect for fundamental rights will we build a safer and more united Mediterranean"

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during the conference

The Home Affairs Minister stressed that this Regional Dialogue Framework will reinforce police cooperation and move towards a Joint Strategy, "key issues" for strengthening EU-MENA cooperation.

"Spain reaffirms its commitment to this process, with the firm conviction that only through political dialogue, technical cooperation and respect for fundamental rights will we be able to build a safer and more united Mediterranean," said Grande-Marlaska during his speech at this forum held in the Portuguese city of Estoril.

The minister praised the approach of the conclusions which, in his opinion, gives continuity to those adopted at the EU-MENA Conference organised in Lisbon in 2023 and is in line with the proposal of the Pact for the Mediterranean promoted by the European Commission. "This strategic framework reinforces the vision of shared, preventive and anticipatory security, which requires political commitment and sustained technical cooperation," he added.

Grande-Marlaska highlighted Spain's contribution to the fight against terrorism in the MENA region, both bilaterally and in the framework of European projects, as in the case of the Just CT, "an example of trans-regional action that has contributed to dismantling terrorist networks and bringing those responsible to justice" in the MENA, Sahel and Horn of Africa regions, he explained.

He also mentioned the ACT (Advance Counter Terrorism for Lebanon Security) project, "a successful model" that has brought "all the actors involved in the fight against terrorism to the same table".

The ministerial meeting was attended, among other authorities, by the home affairs ministers of Belgium, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan and Libya, the deputy home affairs ministers of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Czechia, Syria and Mauritania, and the Swedish State Secretary for Justice.

Meetings with the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Iraq and Jordan

Within the framework of the Conference in Estoril, Grande-Marlaska met with the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, whom he thanked for the fact that the proposal for the Mediterranean Pact includes partners from the Atlantic area, such as Mauritania and Senegal, "essential for migration and security".

"Cooperation with Mauritania and Senegal must be solid and sustainable," said the minister, who also called for "stable funding and an "active presence" of Frontex in migration source and transit countries, in addition to strengthening European cooperation with Algeria and Morocco, "strategic partners in the management of migratory flows".

The minister will also hold a bilateral meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Mazin Abdellah Hilal Al Farrayeh.

Non official translation