The 5 + 5 meeting taking place in Malta today and tomorrow again clearly demonstrates the relevance of the island’s foreign policy when it comes to cham­pioning Mediterranean security issues and concerns.

Since gaining its independence, Malta has consistently promoted the necessity for a more effective cooperative pan-Mediterranean policy to be implemented that seeks to establish dynamic political, economic and cultural relations.

Malta’s leadership role in the Mediterranean is evident from the historic milestone achieved by the inclusion of the Medi­terranean dimension in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the relentless support Malta has dedicated to advancing the strategic objectives of the Barcelona Declaration of 1995.

The gathering of leaders from Malta, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, together with those from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, is the first regional Mediterranean meeting of its kind since the historic transformation of the Mediterranean commenced in 2011.

The revolutions and upheavals across the Arab world that have dominated the geostrategic landscape of the area have ushered in a fluid period of significant change and instability.

The high expectations of the different populations when it comes to democratic reform and economic restructuring can only start to be realised if the challenges they are confronting are addressed at a regional and international level of relations.

The 5 + 5 Malta summit of western Mediterranean countries provides a sub-regional platform where the five southern European states and their five North African counterparts can agree upon a common security agenda that focuses on the long list of areas that will need to be supported if the emerging Mediterranean is to be a secure and prosperous one.

Areas that demand urgent attention include: providing assistance to those countries in transition in their daunting task of implementing political reforms that establish the rule of law and an independent judiciary; creating a more functional Euro-Mediterranean migration policy that includes the facilitation of visa issuing; introducing a more effective Euro-Mediterranean energy market; establishing a Euro-Mediterranean Development Bank; and introducing a more dynamic Euro-Mediterranean education policy that awards thousands of scholarships to students so they can study anywhere in the region.

Agreement upon such an agenda would send a very strong signal that tangible support is on the way to those countries that are committed to participating in a Euro-Mediterranean collective regional security framework.

It is essential that such progress is registered in the aftermath of the initial Arab awakenings if the international community is serious about wanting to help resolve the conflict in Syria and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Otherwise, the risk of a Medi­­ter­ranean maelstrom where counter-revolutionary forces gain the upper hand will only increase.

Malta must be credited with succeeding in hosting the most significant Euro-Mediterranean meeting of its kind since the current transformation of the geopolitical landscape has been taking place. Sustaining this diplomatic endeavour through bilateral and multilateral diplomatic initiatives in the months to come is imperative if our 21st century Mediterranean is to be a peaceful and prosperous one.

(Prof. Calleya has just released a book with Routledge Publications, entitled Security Challenges In The Euro-Med Area In The 21st Century: Mare Nostrum).

The author is an international analyst

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.