Morocco calls for genuine Euro-Mediterranean partnership

Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa called Friday in Stuttgart for the launching of a genuine and balanced Euro-Mediterranean partnership serving the interests of all peoples of the region.

Addressing the Barcelona III conference, which gathered in Stuttgart during the past two days 27 European Union and Mediterranean countries, the Moroccan minister said the consolidation of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is necessary for the creation of the region a zone of peace, stability and shared prosperity. He called for the reactivation of the Barcelona process and urged the European countries to increase technical and financial assistance to the southern Mediterranean countries to enable them stand up to the global market's challenges.

The Euro-Mediterranean countries pledged at the end of their conference to push forward their cooperation on trade and conflict prevention.

They also agreed to enhance peace and stability in the region and renewed their commitment to creating a free-trade zone by 2010.

The Euro-Med grouping, launched in Barcelona in 1995, called further for the consolidation of regional cooperation and for the settlement of conflicts through dialogue and peaceful means.