Gianfranco Fini
MEDITERRANEAN QUARTERLY
A Journal of Global Issues
Volume 17 Number 1 Winter 2006
Creating an area of political stability and security in the Mediterranean
has become one of the highest priorities of Italian and European
foreign policy, at both the bilateral and multilateral levels.
Particularly important in this connection is Italy's participation
in the fight against international terrorism and in regional peace
and stabilisation processes. Also important are its significant
military contributions to operations led by the United Nations
and other multilateral organizations.
As EU high representative for the European Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP), Javier Solana pointed out in the European
Security Strategy approved by the European Council on 12 December
2003 under the Italian presidency, "in the face of new threats,
the first line of defence will often be abroad".
Italy's Operations in the Fight Against International Terrorism
The terrorist offensive that began with the attack on the World
Trade Center in New York-which Italy followed with a deep sense
of loss, anguish and dismay-and whose recent episodes include
the bloody terrorist attacks on the city of London and the Egyptian
holiday resort Sharm el-Sheikh, is having a profound impact on
the civic conscience of Italian citizens.
In the not too distant past our country suffered greatly from
the scourge of domestic terrorism, and has experienced first-hand
the suffering created by international terrorism. The cruel attack
of November 2003 in Iraq bears witness to this, when Italian Carabinieri,
soldiers and civilians lost their lives while carrying out a peace
mission in Nasiriyah.
I wish, therefore, to recall the promptness with which Italy
has responded to the terrorist threat in the wake of 11 September,
adopting measures and legislative instruments in line with the
pertinent UN Security Council resolutions, in particular the wide-ranging
antiterrorism resolution 1373 adopted in 2001 (intended to combat
terrorism of any kind, anywhere in thee world), and with EU legislation.
The Main Forums for Multilateral Cooperation in the Fight Against
Terrorism
The role played by the UN in the fight against terrorism is viewed
by Italy as being of crucial importance and should, if anything,
be further strengthened. Italy has ratified all twelve UN international
conventions against terrorism and strongly supports the activities
of the Counter Terrorism Committee, which was set up on the basis
of resolution 1373 after 11 September. The committee monitors
and propels the overall counterterrorist response. Moreover, Italy
makes a decisive contribution to the Sanctions Committee against
Al Qaeda and the Taliban, second only to the United States in
proposals that have been adopted. A thirteenth convention-on nuclear
terrorism acts-was added to the previous ones in April 2005 and
was opened for signatures in September 2005 in New York during
the summit for the sixtieth anniversary of the UN. Italy signed
this important instrument on that occasion.
Initiatives are, furthermore, under way in the effort to reach
consensus on the text of a global convention against terrorism,
negotiations for which have been locked in stalemate for many
years over the definition of terrorism and the area in which to
implement the convention.
The Eu has also systematically tackled terrorism-related issues,
both at the political and the technical levels, creating two specialised
organisations: the Rome-Lyons Group and the Counter Terrorism
Action Group (CTAG). The Rome-Lyons Group is the result of the
merger, decided during the Kananaskis Summit in 2002, of the Lyons
Groups-concerned with combating organized crime-and the Rome Group
(created during the Italian presidency, and so named in recognition
of that presidency's commitment), created after the 11 September
attacks with a specific mandate in the field of counterterrorism.
In the context of the CTAG, which is in charge of coordinating
technical assistance to third countries that are weaker institutionally
and more exposed to terrorist threats, Italy has taken on the
leadership of a specific security initiative aimed at responding
to the threat of terrorism in western Balkan country airports.
The EU regards its common foreign and security policy as one
of the fundamental instruments by which to fight terrorism. It
has, therefore, placed this matter at the center of meetings on
political dialogue with third countries and regional groups, above
all in the Mediterranean area. Antiterrorism provisions agreed
on between the EU and partner countries are generally foreseen
also in the area of external relations, such as in the case of
Euro-Mediterranean association agreements.
The European Council adopted the Declaration on Terrorism on
25 march 2004 (following the Madrid bombings). In June 2004 a
first revision f the Anti-Terrorism Action Plan, adopted in September
2001, was approved, to be updated on a biannual basis. It contains
a broad series of measures to be adopted in the various crucial
sectors of the fight against terrorism-judiciary and police cooperation,
transport security, border controls and document security, the
financing of terrorist activities, political dialogue and external
relations, and defence against biological/chemical/radiological/nuclear
attacks. The EU Council has provided for the creation of mechanisms
allowing for a rapid and effective response to requests for technical
assistance in counterterrorism and border-control efforts formulated
by the third countries most vulnerable to such threats. These
are found both in the Hague Program for a Space of Freedom, Security
and Justice, adopted in November 2004 and in the Joint Conclusion
of the Summit of 16 and 17 December 2004.
The EU's joint commitment with Mediterranean countries is not
meant to stop at political dialogue but is intended to be applied
on the operative level in the form of technical assistance in
the area of counterterrorism. To this end discussions began in
2004 with some key countries in he region in order to identify
together a series of areas for collaboration, targeted intervention,
and institution buildings, so as to strengthen the operational
capacity and effectiveness of counterterrorism efforts. Morocco
and Algeria are the first countries with which this sort of collaboration
has been established.
The EU's activities in this field are aimed at reinforcing the
UN's counterterrorism strategy, which has identified two strong
points in counterterrorism technical assistance and support to
regional cooperation centers. The Counter Terrorism Executive
Directorate, a technical support body for the Counter Terrorism
Committee, sent a mission to Morocco in March 2005 to pursue technical-level
contacts in matters of counterterrorism cooperation. EU experts
also took part in the mission, thus underlining the objectives
of collaboration and complementarity.
The role of the African Union's Anti-Terrorism Centre, inaugurated
in Algiers in October 2004, must be stressed in the context of
regional collaboration. The centre represents an opportunity for
collaborating and obtaining economies of scale in the reinforcement
of institutional capacities for confronting and defeating the
terrorist threat. The United States and the European Union have
already undertaken to support this institution financially and
in other forms. Italy, in particular, has made every effort to
encourage the EU Commission to contribute to this goal. The choice
of Algiers seems significant not only in the light of the experience
Algeria has tragically accumulated in its fight against terrorism,
but also in consideration of its dual dimension as both a Mediterranean
and an African nation.
Among the most innovative instruments in the EU context are the
Union's blacklists, compiled with the aim of freezing the assets
of individual terrorists and groups other than Al Qaeda. In May
2004 the Red Brigades and nine other subversive Italian organisations
were inserted, upon Italy's proposal, in these lists.
With reference to the fight against terrorism, the Italian EU
Presidency achieved results of great political and operational
importance in the second semester of 2003. Within the framework
of the CFSP a dialogue was launched with the Gulf Cooperation
Council on the financing of terrorism.
Moreover, ad hoc multinational teams, composed of investigators
from EU countries, were set up to operate in the 'pre-trial' phase
of police investigations. An initial implementation of these multinational
teams took place during the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.
The European Council of 16-17 December 2004 approved a series
of additional counterterrorism measures, which included reinforced
intelligence capacities within the Council Secretariat, the definition
of a global protection strategy for critical infrastructures,
impediments to the financing of terrorism, the integration of
counterterrorism activities among the European Union's external
relations, with regard both to the development of political dialogue
and to technical assistance to third countries. In this context,
particular importance was given to aspects such as the radicalisation
of the terrorist phenomenon and the recruitment of terrorists,
with a view to the common integration principles adopted at the
Groeningen Conference, which include inter-religious dialogue.
In this regard, the European Council has requested the drafting
of a long-term strategy that will be defined by the end of Britain's
semester of EU Presidency. It must be pointed out that less than
twenty-four hours after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks,
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation activated Article 5 of the
Washington Treaty according to which an armed attack against one
or more NATO member states is considered an attack against all
its member states.
Thus NATO declared, in effect, that the terrorist attack perpetrated
against the United States constituted an attack against all nineteen
member states. Italy is taking part in NATO's Active Endeavour
naval mission in the Mediterranean, which has counterterrorism
objectives. The 'Active Endeavour' operation consisted initially
in patrolling the Eastern Mediterranean and carrying out on-board
inspections of ships that raised suspicion. Further, the task
force had the job of escorting commercial ships from Allied Countries
through the Strait of Gibraltar if so requested. The success of
"Active Endeavour" in impeding - or at least heavily
restricting - naval traffic suspected of supporting terrorism,
has now lead the Alliance to extend their area of operations from
the Eastern Mediterranean to the entire Mediterranean basin. Moreover,
NATO has asked its partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Council (EAPC) and in the Mediterranean Dialogue (Algeria, Egypt,
Jordan, Israel, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) to participate
actively in the operation.
NATO has included terrorism amongst the topics for discussion
with its Mediterranean Dialogue partners. To that end a special
framework document has been adopted, entitled the "Partnership
Action Plan against Terrorism". NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue
constitutes an important element in the Atlantic policy of cooperation
with third countries, launched in the context of the Alliance's
process of adaptation to the security requirements that emerged
following the end of the Cold War. The initiative was launched
on 1 December 1994 with a statement by NATO Foreign Ministers,
which envisaged contacts between the Alliance and the Mediterranean
countries with a view to strengthening regional security and stability.
Italy has always been an active and convinced supporter of Mediterranean
dialogue, viewed as being complementary to the European Union's
Barcelona Process, and has made pragmatic efforts in favour of
any possible collaboration in the sectors most specifically relevant
to NATO (such as the fight against terrorism and the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, defence reform, and so on) in
which the Alliance can make its own experience available and offer
real added value as compared with other international organisations.
Moreover, on 2 April 2004 NATO approved a Declaration on Terrorism
during the informal Atlantic Council held at ministerial level.
This Declaration reaffirms principles of cooperation and solidarity
between member states and makes reference to the international
collaborative approaches to counterterrorism established by the
UN. NATO activities in Afghanistan, and its training of Iraqi
armed forces, constitute a commitment to the fight against terrorism
in the broadest sense.
Complementing Mediterranean Dialogue, and in line with the development
of NATO's political-strategic identity as an Alliance for stability
and security in critical (or potentially critical) areas along
its borders, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) was launched
at the Istanbul Summit in June 2004. The ICI is aimed at an undefined
number of countries and foresees contacts and collaborations with
the Gulf countries and, in the future, the countries of the Middle
East in general, with a more accentuated bilateral content (model
26 + 1) than the Mediterranean Dialogue, which aims rather at
maintaining a multilateral framework. NATO's overall aim regarding
countries of the Mediterranean and 'Greater Middle East' is, through
concrete cooperation initiatives, to encourage the participation
of these countries in the security of the Euro-Mediterranean and
Middle East region, on the basis of the principle of cooperative
security on which partnership relations cultivated by the Alliance
are based. Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates
have already formally embraced the initiative.
Finally, NATO is collaborating with the European Union in the
development of cooperation for civil protection and defence in
the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.
An analogous form of collaboration is under way in the context
of the NATO-Russia Council and the EAPC.
Various approaches are being applied to the fight against terrorism,
which must be adapted to the evolution of terrorist strategies,
above all in terms of governmental policy and operational methods.
Most noteworthy is the trend toward strengthening intelligence
capacities, both at the national level and at that of international
organisations. Such a measure, as was previously pointed out,
was adopted by the European Council of 16-17 December 2004. In
the NATO context, the Declaration on Terrorism of 2 April 2004
contains a series of operational measures related to the improvement
of intelligence information exchanges, and the organisation is
about to complete the creation of a Terrorist Threat Intelligence
Unit. With regard to the United Nations, the need to strengthen
the organisation's capabilities in this field has been clearly
pointed out by many.
Another crucial sector is transport security. At the G8 Summit
in Sea Island (8- 10 June 2004), the Heads of State and Government
approved a Plan of Action (SAFTI - Secure and Facilitated International
Travel Initiative) that extends and strengthens measures already
approved at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002. The Plan principally
concerns air traffic and includes a brief Declaration and a more
detailed Plan of Action that foresees a wide series of measures
aimed at raising airline security standards, improving control
procedures in airports and facilitating information exchange.
The Plan also includes a component concerning maritime transport
and infrastructure security.
Document security, and the application of new technologies in
this area, is another marked trend. In order to ensure adequate
protection against the possible counterfeiting, also for terrorism
purposes, of passports and other travel documents, various countries
have decided to introduce biometric data into these documents.
The EU is also preparing the application of new technologies to
travel documents in such a way as to establish a reliable link
between the citizen and the document. In this highly important
operational sector, common guidelines and standards are agreed
on from within the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).
Important analysis and proposals activities in this field are
also taking place in the context of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe.
In the field of international cooperation against the financing
of terrorism, nine Special Recommendations against the financing
of terrorism were developed by the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), and added to the forty already existing recommendations
against money laundering. To date, more than ninety non-FATF member
countries have presented self-evaluation reports on their compliance
with this organisation's recommendations.
In addition to sector measures at operational level, increasing
importance is being given to broad-based prevention efforts based
on cultural and religious dialogue. Their aim is to encourage
reciprocal knowledge and understanding and to, thereby, remove
the possibility for the propagation of fundamentalist propaganda
and the recruiting of terrorists.
Italy is playing a leading role in this sector with the aim of
establishing a partnership between Europe and the West and moderate
Islam, both in countries of origin and in Muslim communities residing
in our countries. It is also to this end that Italy has strongly
supported the creation of the 'Anna Lindh' Euro-Mediterranean
Foundation for dialogue between cultures inaugurated in Alexandria
20 April 2005, thus completing the institutional process initiated
in 2002.
Moreover, the G8-Broader Middel East and North Africa (BMENA)
Partnership founded at the G8 Summit in Sea Island on 9 June 2004,
supports the region's democratic reforms and socio-economic progress.
It embraced the following:
1. A structured context for dialogue (Forum for the Future),
which met for the first time in Rabat 11 December 2004. The forum
positively acknowledged the developments imparted at the 'Democracy
Assistance Dialogue' (DAD) initiative sponsored by Italy, Turkey
and Yemen, expressing appreciation for the results, both in methodology
and content, of the Rome Session on 25 November 2004. These include
the absolute priority of each country's internal impetus and the
dynamics that foster democracy, the importance of the relationship
between institutions and civil society, the advisability of encouraging
the inclusion of women, the central importance of electoral processes
giving expression to political pluralism in each individual country.
For Italy's part, availing ourselves of the work done by the NGO
Non c'è pace senza giustizia, we intend to organise an
event, hopefully in Morocco, on the subject of political pluralism
at both non-governmental and government levels. It will be open
to participation by the G8 countries and countries in the region.
Turkey organised a Study Seminar on the inclusion of women in
Istanbul on 20 and 21 June 2005, while Yemen, for its part, has
offered to host a Conference to sum up progress made at the end
of 2005.
2. A strategy that identifies three groups of objectives: political
(democracy and rule of law), socio-cultural (education, freedom
of expression, equal opportunities, access to computer technology),
and economic (employment, entrepreneurship, investments and trade),
each of which is the focus of a specific dialogue: it mentions
the advisability of giving parallel impetus to resolving the Arab-Israeli
conflict and restoring a sovereign and democratic Iraq, and notes
other cooperation achievements in the area, first and foremost
the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
3. A set of operational initiatives aimed at supporting microfinance,
literacy training, microeconomics, democratisation, entrepreneurship
and investments, external financing, development and safeguarding
of the society, including the status of women.
Particularly characteristic of such an approach is the aim of
creating interaction between governmental and non-governmental
levels. The G8-BMENA Partnership should, moreover, operate in
synergy with analogous activities already existing (in particular
the Barcelona Process and the concomitant EU initiatives, as well
as the OECD's MENA initiative).
The G8 Summit at Gleneagles (6-8 July) adopted a specific declaration
of support to the initiative. The European Union has set in motion
an internal reflection aimed at improving the instruments already
in existence or in the process of being defined.
The European Union has set in motion an internal reflection aimed
at improving the instruments already in existence or in the process
of being defined.
The need to build a joint security framework within the context
of the Barcelona Process in order to give clear political direction
to existing collaborative efforts, and to open up new perspectives
in priority sectors such as the fight against terrorism, was highlighted
at the Luxembourg Euro-Mediterranean Conference held last May.
The Conclusions of the Conference underline the importance of
the full implementation of pertinent United Nations resolutions,
and of the adoption of all international conventions against terrorism.
All Euro-Mediterranean partners have agreed, furthermore, to support
the prompt signing and ratification of the Convention for the
Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism, the text of which was recently
adopted by the UN General Assembly. Finally, the need to reach
broad consensus on the text of the Global Convention against Terrorism
was reiterated.
The June 2004 European Council approved the final report on the
Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The Strategic Partnership constitutes the first European initiative
addressed to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as well as
Libya, Mauritania, Yemen, Iran and Iraq, in addition to the Mediterranean
Partners of the Barcelona Process, and has the principal goal
of building an area of peace, prosperity and progress in this
region, based on the criterion of partnership. In terms of the
priority sectors identified by the final report, the strengthening
of the political and security dialogue with the countries of the
Mediterranean and the Middle East is considered indispensable,
also in response to the challenges posed by international terrorism,
which is considered by the governments of the Partner and Gulf
countries to be the main threat to internal stability and the
stability of the entire region.
Italy's role in the Middle East Peace Process
The situation in the Middle East, and the quest for a fair, lasting
and global solution to the confrontation involving the Arab world
and the Jewish State, have always represented one of Italy's and
the EU's privileged spheres of international activity. Indeed
this crisis is taking place not very far away from us, within
the most immediate reach of our foreign policy - in what is commonly
referred to as the "near abroad" - and involves serious
risks for the stability of the entire Mediterranean basin and
Middle East region. Experience has taught us, in particular, that
- if we consider the history of the Barcelona Process -it is unrealistic
to think that the issue of the strategic reorganisation of the
region can be separated from the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
During the semester of the Italian EU Presidency in 2003, we
found ourselves managing a moment of very severe crisis. The fact
that it was possible to maintain dialogue between the Israelis
and Palestinians and to keep the Road Map initiative alive, which
required a substantial effort, was no small success and was anything
but a foregone conclusion.
It should be pointed out that, during its 2003 EU Presidency,
Italy arranged for three encounters between Israeli and Palestinian
foreign ministers Sylvan Shalom and Nabil Shaath. These were held
at the end of July 2003 in Brussels, at the beginning of December
in Naples on the occasion of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference,
and finally, a few days later in Rome, in conjunction with the
Donors for Palestine Meeting that Italy hosted at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. These were not mere exercises in image diplomacy,
but rather important occasions that contributed concretely to
keeping hope and dialogue alive. Occasions in which our diplomacy
managed, despite a thousand difficulties, to do what no other
Presidency had managed to do since the beginning of the Intifada
in 2000 - i.e. to seat all the principal parties and international
protagonists around the same table.
Today the Israelis and Palestinians are making concrete steps
toward re-launching the negotiation process. As regards the Palestinian
Authority the first and most important point is the fight against
terrorism. Italy has repeatedly asked the Palestinian leadership
to take concrete measures to put an end to the attacks against
Israeli objectives, and will continue to do so. There can be no
ambiguity on this point. Terrorist violence can never be justified
and does not serve the interests of the Palestinian people. The
Palestinian Authority, therefore, must immediately implement the
necessary measures to prevent attacks against Israeli objectives
and improve public order, the steady deterioration of which heavily
de-legitimises the Authority's efforts, not only in the eyes of
its external interlocutors, but above all in the eyes of the Palestinian
population.
Israel too must play its part, making concrete gestures of openness
that allow the necessary confidence required to resume application
of the Road Map. In this respect, Israel certainly has the right
to take all the measures it deems necessary to protect the life
and safety of its own citizens. Nevertheless, this right - and
Italy and the other EU members have not hesitated in underlining
this - must be exercised within a framework of international legality.
In the final analysis, this is the context within which the question
of the security barrier must be placed.
The other point concerning Israel's policy that comes to our
attention is its plan for withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts
of the West Bank. It is becoming increasingly clear how this represents
a strategic direction taken by the current Israeli government,
but a definitive opinion on it will be only possible once the
methods by which it means to proceed have been clarified. Nevertheless,
any Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Territories that alleviates
the military pressure of occupation for the Palestinian population
should be greeted favourably and as constituting an advancement
of the implementation of the Road Map.
Italy and the European Union are, therefore, convinced of the
possibility of achieving what is known as the goal of two states,
coexisting peacefully in the region. A genuine end to this conflict
cannot stray from a genuine two-State solution, if for no other
reason than that it would be the sole way of guaranteeing the
real Jewish nature of Israel and of defusing what is called the
demographic 'bomb'. Indeed, Italy could not accept the existence
and security of the State of Israel being jeopardised. Likewise,
anyone who thinks it is possible to achieve peace without the
birth of a free and democratic Palestinian State with a geographically
integrated territory is deluding oneself.
The Italian military presence in the Mediterranean and the Middle
East
In the framework of Italy's efforts to strengthen security in
the region mention must also be made of its significant military
presence, whose purpose is to contribute to the region's stabilisation.
Our contingent is operational in the following countries:
Israel, through the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO),
Lebanon, through the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),
Iraq and Kuwait, through the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation
(UNIKO) Mission,
Western Sahara through the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western
Sahara (MINURSO),
Egypt through the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO),
Hebron City through the Temporary International Presence in Hebron
(TIPH2), and
Iraq through ANTICA BABILONIA, Italy's own contingent in Iraq.
The latter operation is that deploying the highest number of Italian
soldiers.
UNTSO is operating in four of the five countries involved in
the Middle East conflict (Israel, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon). Here
the Italian contingent is made up of seven men. The United Nations
Security Council mandate envisages two essential tasks for UNTSO:
ensuring observance of the ceasefire until a peace agreement is
reached, as well as assisting all sides in the supervision and
respect for the terms of the 1949 armistice agreements.
UNIFIL is a mission engaging fifty-two Italian soldiers along
the border between Lebanon and Israel. The contingent has the
task of assisting the country in re-establishing full territorial
sovereignty and international stability.
The UNIKO Mission operates along the demilitarised strip created
along the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and includes the presence
of one Italian observer.
MINURSO also deserves mentioned. Five Italian soldiers are engaged
there. In accordance with the agreement accepted by Morocco and
the POLISARIO Front (Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia
el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro) on 30 August 1988, the contingent is
charged, among other things, with verifying observance of the
ceasefire between the opposing sides and identifying voters to
participate in the referendum on self-determination outlined by
the United Nations Peace Plan.
Another multinational force, called the Multinational Force and
Observers, (MFO, is operational in Egypt and Israel. Its Italian
component is made up of seventy-six men. The MFO is an international
organisation, approved by the 1979 Peace Treaty, for the maintenance
of peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel.
The Italian military contingent, also called the Coastal Patrol
Unit in the MFO context, has the task of patrolling the areas
bordering the Strait of Tiran that connects the Gulf of Aqaba
to the Red Sea, and of ensuring freedom of navigation in the Gulf
along the coastal strip between the parallel of Ras Mohammed and
Dahab (approx. 47 miles), reporting possible infringements under
Article 5 of the Camp David Treaty. This task is made possible
by the presence at sea of one unit for at least twelve out of
twenty-four hours.
Finally, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH2)
is operating in the city of Hebron. Fifteen Italian soldiers are
engaged in this mission. Regulated by the 'Agreement on the Temporary
International Presence in the city of Hebron', the mission was
requested by the Israeli government and by the Palestinian Authority,
and foresees withdrawal of the Israeli army from a part of Hebron
and the presence of international observers.
Sub-regional cooperation in the Western Mediterranean
On the level of sub-regional cooperation, numerous dialogue and
cooperation initiatives concerning security in the western Mediterranean
have been launched as part of the 5+5 Dialogue, a sub-regional
initiative under the Barcelona Process in which Algeria, France,
Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and
Tunisia are taking part. Particularly important in this context
were three ministerial conferences on migration in the western
Mediterranean held respectively in Tunis in 2002, Rabat in 2003
and Algiers in September 2004. All were characterised by a global
and balanced approach to migration issues.
The Algerian Presidency of the 5+5 Dialogue ended with the Conference
of Foreign Affairs Ministers held in Oran (23-24 November 2004)
and dedicated to strengthening cooperation between member states
and to their contribution to re-launching the Barcelona Process
in anticipation of its ten-year anniversary in November 2005.
Included among the efforts to be pursued were greater collaboration
against terrorism, the progress of integration between North African
countries, growing cooperation in matters of migration as well
as the development of relations between the parliaments of member
states.
In September 2004 an initiative was launched for dialogue and
cooperation on security questions in the Western Mediterranean
that, thanks to Italy's efforts, was enlarged to the traditional
5+5 format. In Paris on 21 December defence ministers adopted
a declaration of aims with a related plan of action that sets
out the strategic choices and sectors for cooperation (in particular:
collaboration in maritime surveillance and support for civil protection
activities and airline security in the Mediterranean).
Operative since 1995 in the context of Western Mediterranean
cooperation is the Conference of Interior Ministers of the Western
Mediterranean - otherwise known as CIMO - whose participants include
the member states of the 5+5 Dialogue, excepting Mauritania at
the present moment. During the latest ministerial meeting held
in Tunis on 24 and 25 June 2004 a declaration was adopted containing
recommendations concerning counterterrorism, the struggle against
organised crime and cooperation on migration issues. On the first
point, the ministers agreed to improve the exchange of information,
promote more effective bilateral and multilateral cooperation,
and strengthen impediments to terrorism financing. I would like
to conclude this long list with a final commitment.
As well as undertaking not to lower our guard internally, Italy
is determined to do its utmost in pursuing collaborative efforts
with other countries in the fight against terrorism and, more
generally, in the creation of a stable and secure Mediterranean
and Middle East through increased cooperation at bilateral and
multilateral levels. In this respect, we can delay no longer in
finalising the Global Convention on International Terrorism, aimed
at completing the UN's legal framework regarding terrorism, through
a strong commitment by the entire international community to resume
those negotiations.
Moreover, confronted with the enormity of the challenges ahead,
we cannot delay any further in identifying the factors that underlie
them. In the fight against terrorism we also intend to pursue
political dialogue in parallel with cooperation at the operational
level; this was, what's more, the hope expressed in the Conclusions
of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Ministers held
in Luxembourg on 30 and 31 May 2005.
