Barcelona---EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called Monday for stepped up cooperation between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbours in North Africa and the Middle East to fight terrorism.
"The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Tunis, those yesterday in Egypt and at the Moroccan embassy in Libya, show that we must reinforce our cooperation in the fight against terrorism," she said at a meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU member states and eight nations of the southern rim of the Mediterranean.
"All nations in the region are confronted with a fragile security situation which has worsened due to several armed conflicts, mainly in Syria and Libya," she added.
"We are watching a rise in radicalism on the part of our youths, who are following in greater numbers the call to jihadism in the north and south of the Mediterranean."
To fight terrorism greater cooperation is needed in economic, cultural and political affairs as well as in security matters, Mogherini said.
It was the first high-level meeting of the 43-nation Mediterranean Union since the body was launched in 2008 with the aim of creating a more equal dialogue between the wealthy EU and the poorer states that line the Mediterranean.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that "terrorism is a challenge for all of us."
"The Muslim world is a victim of it like the rest. No one should believe the lie of those who speak of a fight between Islam and the West," he added.
Mogherini hosted the one day informal gathering along with EU Regional Policy commissioner Johannes Hahn.
Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority and Tunisia sent representatives to the meeting as did the 28 nations that make up the European Union.
AFP
