News

Malta Seminar 2012: Confidence Building and Networking for Mediterranean diplomats

23-05-2012

Diplomats from most of the twenty-seven EU member states and the Mediterranean Partner countries and Union for the Mediterranean partner states, including first time participants from Libya, attended the thirty-second Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Seminar that took place in Malta earlier this month.

The four days of proceedings provided a unique opportunity to reflect upon and discuss openly the historic transformation that has swept across the southern Mediterranean throughout the past eighteen months. The seminar focused on recent developments in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. A press release said particular attention was dedicated to identifying the progress registered in implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean agenda and EU policy decisions towards the Mediterranean since the start of the Arab Spring.
 
The Seminar is organised by the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies of the University of Malta under the auspices of the European External Action Service, who assist in coordinating this official Euro-Mediterranean confidence building initiative.
 
Throughout the four-day seminar, academic specialists and other professionals from Europe and the Mediterranean presented a series of lectures on developments pertaining to political, security, economic, financial, and the socio-cultural and human dimensions of contemporary Euro-Mediterranean relations.
 
Specific attention was given to topics including: Perspectives and prospects for political change in the Mediterranean; an evaluation of progress registered to date when it comes to political reforms as a result of the upheavals in the Arab world; an assessment of the main economic challenges in the Mediterranean; the challenge of energy security; and the role of civil society in the transformation of the Euro-Mediterranean region was also discussed.
 
The Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training meeting for diplomats, or Malta Seminar as the gatherings have become more commonly known, was addressed by Dr. Tonio Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, who emphasized the important role that Malta has been playing as a champion of confidence building mechanisms in the Mediterranean, including the Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Seminar for diplomats, that has been taking place since October 1996.
 
Malta Seminars for diplomats is a project that carries out training for EU and Mediterranean diplomats aiming to provide them with regular and updated information on the European Institutions and the key aspects of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Seminars for Diplomats help to improve information flows, allow for exchanges of ideas and promote dialogue. The project also has a valuable networking function. (EU Neighbourhood Info)
 
Read more
 
Press release
 
Euromed Information and Training Seminars for Diplomats (2004-2009) – fiche and news
 
Euromed Information and Training Seminars for Diplomats – website
 

 


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