The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell led, on Friday at the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez (UEMF), a conference on the theme “Our strategic responsibilities in the geopolitical context current “.
In this conference which was attended, in particular, by the students as well as the members of the teaching staff of this university, Borrell stopped on the difficult geopolitical situation of the world today, consequence of a war which began last February and which has affected the entire planet, in particular through the rise in energy and food prices.
“This is the most important geopolitical event of the last year and I think it will be the most important event for years to come,” he said, focusing on the repercussions of this war on food and energy security in Europe and in other countries of the world.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy returned, at the same time, to the health crisis of Covid19 with the recent outbreak of cases in China, the wave of drought and floods and its negative effects as well as on the increase in the number of refugees and on the war situation in other areas of the world, notably Somalia, Ethiopia and the Sahel. The Morocco-EU strategic partnership and EU-Africa cooperation were also at the center of the debate. Addressing the issue of human capital, the European official stressed the need to give more importance to the younger generations and to invest more in education, adding that “human capital is the most important capital”.
“I am happy that the EU has invested in this university (UEMF) which is perhaps the most important achievement of the Union for the Mediterranean”, he noted, expressing the readiness of the EU to support this establishment in its projects, including the university hospital center and research on resilient agriculture.
Speaking at the opening of this conference, the president of the UEMF, Mostapha Bousmina reiterated his thanks to the EU for its “constantly renewed” support in the implementation phases of the projects of this university and those to come, welcoming this collaboration for the construction of “this high academic, teaching and research center based on intercultural dialogue, exchange and cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean with an extension towards Africa”.
The UEMF brings its academic and cultural contribution to the construction and development of regional integration in the Euro-Mediterranean-Africa area through its academic programs developed with some fifty institutions of this same area and by through the mobility and exchange of students and teacher-researchers.
In a press conference after this meeting with UEMF students, Borrell indicated that this meeting was an opportunity to discuss “the strategic responsibilities of Europe in today’s world and in the current context that young people will face in the Mediterranean”.
“In this context, the role of the European Union (…) is to cooperate more with the rest of the world, and to do so with great humility. And that’s what I came to do in Morocco, and especially with young students today (…)”, he underlined
“I leave knowing that we still have a long way to go together with Morocco, with all of Africa, and in particular with young people like those who, here, in this remarkable university, have the possibility of preparing its future”, concluded the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.