"EUROMENA Show" reconsiders Euro-Mediterranean relations in the pandemic crisis

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation, together with Casa Árabe, hosted the second edition of the EUROMENA Show in Madrid, which focused on the Euro-MENA region and the 'restarting of Euro-Mediterranean relations' in the post-pandemic era. The aim of the event was to establish the basis for generating an international and geostrategic dialogue between Mediterranean countries, the EU and North African countries.

The businessman and innovation strategist Valentín Garal and the journalist Esther Molina were the presenters who marked the development of the event, welcoming the attendees who were following the conference online from Spain and other countries in the Mediterranean area. "The objective is to establish a geostrategic dialogue between the Mediterranean countries, the European Union and some sub-Saharan countries in order to rethink the factors and international relations in social and political terms". 

Along these lines, the modellers introduced the director of FNF in Madrid, David Henneberger, who stated that this event is an opportunity to "reflect on Mediterranean relations today, in an economic and pandemic crisis, as well as to rethink how to create bonds that we can trust and work on together". Similarly, Henneberger said that the Show wants to "show what unites us as Mediterranean societies because there are many more factors that unite us than separate us".

In this regard, the director announced a series of colloquiums and activities that will take place along with the presentation of different documentaries such as the report on "women leading protests" and exhibitions of "Women in the Sahel". 

The day was divided into three distinct parts: the first revolved around the main keys to the economic reconstruction of the area, with special attention to the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus crisis, in which we are still immersed, and with an emphasis on the liberal economic system. The event continued with the theme of women and their role in the revolutions and demonstrations of recent years, as well as their role as business entrepreneurs. To conclude, a series of debates were organised around the challenges generated by climate change, seeking to highlight and stimulate cooperation mechanisms between the EU and North Africa.

On the other hand, migration policy was another of the main issues addressed during the conference. In this respect, a series of discussions were held in which the need to treat the MENA region as an area of opportunities and not one of confrontation was highlighted. In the conclusions reached, "employment", "growth" and "socio-political progress" were mentioned as key issues for the whole region and the Mediterranean area. In addition, intercultural dialogue, economic relations, human rights, diversification of the economy and the climate challenge were the main axes through which the event developed.

In this sense, the programme has presented the publication of the report 'Creating Euromediterranean Bonds that Deliver', a dossier that alludes to the need to talk in terms of cooperation between the MENA region and the European Union in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this way, the pandemic has created a new social and political system in which the international urgency to create a new future based on cooperation, reciprocity and contribution has been demonstrated. It has also sought to bridge the gap between public and private institutions and civil society relations.

In this way, the EUROMENA Show has been a space where the main guidelines and keys that intend to govern the present and future international relations between the European Union and the "Mare Nostrum" in the coming years have been gathered, in a new scenario where the consequences of the pandemic have transformed the way we relate to each other and, therefore, the very cooperation between states. Thus, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation has produced a rapprochement that goes beyond the cooperation between cultures to provide values and solutions where the rapprochement between regions is the new political and social scenario that sets the course of the new diplomatic era.