"The reinvigoration and revitalization of the Arab Maghreb Union's institutions will bring about concrete and inclusive answers to economic and security challenges in the region," Fassi Fihri said at the opening of a conference themed "the Euro-Mediterranean Security: Morocco and British perspectives".
    Regional security issues cannot be overlooked because of outdated political thinking or tactical calculations, he said, calling upon all decision-makers in the region to buckle down to security challenges and socio-economic development issues.
    He said that "countries of the North and the South should, jointly and equally, take advantage of the different available initiatives, while shunning the northern ones which could only lead to duplication."
    "Together, we have to conduct real diagnoses and pick up and respond to the real challenges so as to provide coherent answers in this laboratory which is the Mediterranean," he added.
    Referring to the meeting, Fassi Fihri noted that ideas, analyses and proposals made will contribute to reaching a strategic consensus for the Mediterranean, a zone which still suffers from distressing disorder, environment challenges, development gap, cultural divides and illegal cross-border trafficking.
     He added that since September 11, new threats came out and pushed the Euro-Mediterranean countries to reassess the security equation in this area.
     He went on to say that “insecurity is defined as the globalization of threats, the mutation of its strains and the emergence of new non-state actors,” adding that the Mediterranean zone is dependent on the stability in other African neighboring regions (Sahelo-Saharan zone) in addition to the Middle-East.
     There is a pressing need for peace in the Middle-East, Fassi Fihri underlined, noting that the Israeli government’s acts are making tension mount and provoking confrontations.
    The minister underlined that HM King Mohammed VI, chairman of Al-Quds Committee, is constantly encouraging the international community to revitalize the peace process to reach a fair solution that secures the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to an independent, sovereign and viable State with Al-Quds Asharif as its capital. 
                         
    The forum, held at the initiative of Morocco’s ambassador in London Cherifa Lalla Joumala Alaoui in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) and the OCP Foundation, is part of the consultation process on matters of shared interest.
    The opening session was attended mainly by King’s advisor André Azoulay, Energy minister Amina Benkhadra, and State secretary to the Interior ministry Saad Hassar.