IX International Seminar Security and Defense in the Mediterranean. A shared approach for the Mediterranean and its neighbourhood

Last 25th October the IX International Seminar on Security and Defence in the Mediterranean took place at the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona, under this year´s title, A shared approach for the Mediterranean and its neighbourhood. The seminar organised annually by CIDOB and the Ministry for Defence since 2002 aims to gather experts, scholars, and civil and military government officials. This ninth edition had the collaboration of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)).The IX Seminar was inaugurated by CIDOB’s President, Narcís Serra, and the Director of the European Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), Mr. Álvaro de Vasconcelos. They both highlighted the importance of this seminar to promote dialogue and debate among experts on Mediterranean issues, while also tackling the different challenges and threats existing in the Euromediterranean region. The Spanish Minister of Defence, Carme Chacón, gave the keynote speech in which she pointed out that many security threats originate from south of the Mediterranean, especially from the Sahel area. Furthermore, she underlined the Spanish commitment for an EU Strategy towards the Sahel in the near future. 

The Spanish Minister observed also the potential of the cooperation forums as regards to security issues in the Mediterranean, such as the Initiative 5+5 and the Mediterranean Dialogue within NATO.The first session was about the progress on cooperation between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners on security and defence issues, with special importance given to Morocco and Turkey. The second panel focused on the analysis of how the Lisbon Treaty and Union for the Mediterranean could promote the security dialogue between the European Union and the countries south of the Mediterranean. Finally, the third panel dealt with desert security, more particularly illegal trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. Albert Moreno, Secretary for the EU of the Generalitat of Catalunya, Jordi Vaquer, Director of CIDOB, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, Director of the EUISS, and Luis Cuesta, Secretary General of Defence Policy of the Spanish Ministry of Defence, were in charge of the closing speech. In this last session, they underlined the need to keep working on security cooperation issues in the Mediterranean and they invited the participants to join the next edition of the Seminar, which would celebrate its tenth anniversary.