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On 28 November 2025, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artjoms Uršuļskis, participated in the 10th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona, at which delegates from the European Union and the Southern Mediterranean discussed the current situation in the Mediterranean and directions for further cooperation. During the forum, the representatives of 42 countries reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening political dialogue and practical cooperation so as to promote the region’s security, stability and prosperity.
In his address to those present, Parliamentary Secretary Uršuļskis underlined that the European countries and those in Southern Mediterranean are all facing major challenges – notably, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. Those developments call for even closer cooperation and coordinated action as the stability, prosperity and security of the Euro-Mediterranean countries are closely interconnected.
28 November also saw an event that officially launched a new framework for the EU’s cooperation with the Southern Neighbourhood – the Pact for the Mediterranean. At the meeting, the EU Member States and their southern neighbours made a commitment to supporting the Pact for Mediterranean, which prioritises strengthening cooperation in areas such as the development of human capital, economy and security, as well as expressing their readiness to engage in its implementation.
The EU’s strategic interest lies in a more intensive cooperation with its Southern Neighbourhood region. The Southern Mediterranean countries are important partners to the EU in trade, energy, migration management, climate policy, and regional security. The Pact for the Mediterranean makes it possible to strengthen relations between the EU and Southern neighbours, highlighting their shared commitment to peace and security in the region, strengthening the rules-based international order, fostering sustainable development, protecting freedom and human rights, and combating disinformation.
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The Barcelona Process was established in 1995 as an instrument for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. At the Paris Summit in 2008, it was transformed into the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) envisaging closer EU-Mediterranean cooperation. The Union for the Mediterranean brings together 42 countries, including all the EU Member States and 15 Mediterranean countries, both the so-called Southern neighbours and the Balkan countries. EU institutions and the League of Arab States also participate in the work of the Union.