ARLEM at the 8th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean

​​On 27 November 2023, ARLEM Vice-president, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, addressed the ministers of foreign affairs of the UfM attending the UfM 8th Regional Forum gathered in Barcelona on the critical situation in Israel and Gaza.

The 8th UfM Regional Forum took place in the framework of the 15th anniversary of the organisation, built on the acquis of the ‎Barcelona Process and its goals of shared peace, stability and ‎prosperity in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

Apostolos Tzitzikostas supported the European call for revamping the Oslo agreement, as the only viable path for the future and stressed the pivotal role that civil society and local authorities can play in this regard as many Israeli and Palestinian mayors have strong partners in Europe. In this context, ARLEM offers channels of dialogue in order to help re-establishing new forms of confidence-building between the two populations as it works towards leveraging the mutual trust set up through the years, building on Mayors' ability to keep open the grassroot dialogue, coupling their efforts with on-the-ground cooperation between peers.

The UfM was founded fifteen years ago to promote regional dialogue and cooperation in view of creating a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Euro-Mediterranean area. It was launched as a continuation of the Barcelona Process, building on the hope of the Oslo Accords.

ARLEM was set up in 2010 by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) together with territorial associations active in this context allowing elected representatives from the three shores of the Mediterranean Sea to give a territorial dimension to the Union for the Mediterranean, promote local democracy, multi-level governance and decentralised cooperation and encourage North-South and South-South dialogue between local and regional authorities.