The Coordinator of the Mediterranean Programme participates in the 5+5 defence school

On 29-30 September and 1 October, Eduard Soler, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Programme CIDOB, participated in the first of the advanced modules of the 5+5 Defence School, which was held in Madrid, in the National School of Higher Defence Studies. This training exercise was attended by high officials from Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta, and represents another step in the strengthening of the 5+5 defence initiative that was launched in 2004. 

Within the framework of this module, Eduard Soler participated as coordinator in the working groups, one of which was on human security and the other on regional cooperation initiatives in the Mediterranean. From the debates and exchanges of opinions that took place in these groups, it became clear that it will be difficult to introduce the logic of human security into cooperation and into some of the tasks carried out by the armed forces on both sides of the Mediterranean. 

It was also clear that unlike the obstructions that other cooperation initiatives are experiencing, the 5+5 is continuing to make progress, and it does so thanks to its informal, gradual and pragmatic nature as well as the equal way in which all its members are treated and the fact that they are carrying out tangible, specific projects.