The EUMED9 Summit concluded with a joint press conference between leaders of the Mediterranean countries of the European Union (EUMED9) in Athens at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and a dinner will follow on Friday.

Earlier,  adopted the “Athens Declaration” on climate change, calling for the full implementation of the Civil Protection Mechanism and the substantial strengthening of RescEU instruments in the Mediterranean.

Host Greek KyriakosMitsotakis said there would not be a repeat of the 2015 immigration crisis, while French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the countries were meeting the challenges in our ‘neighbourhood’. Italian PM Draghi urged the European Commission to intervene in electricity increases.
Multiple messages were sent during the press conference on security in the Eastern Mediterranean, the need for action on climate change, tackling a wave of migration from Afghanistan, and the protection of maritime.

Earlier, EUMED9 adopted the “Athens Declaration” on climate change, calling for the full implementation of the Civil Protection Mechanism and the substantial strengthening of RescEU instruments in the Mediterranean.

At the beginning of the press conference, PM Mitsotakis pointed out that the Mediterranean countries are coordinating their action against climate change, while he spoke about the need for Turkey to abandon its provocations against Greece and Cyprus.

“We are ready to deal with hybrid threats,” he said, referring to migration flows from Afghanistan. As he said, the borders of Greece are also borders of the EU and our country will not allow a new migration wave, like the one of 2015.

Mitsotakis also referred to the vaccination campaign, emphasising that the persuasion operation will continue, without stopping the economic activity.