The proceedings of the Med9 meeting will be attended by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Layen (Archive photo, SPECIAL NEWS).

Two different texts, on the one hand the Athens Declaration on climate change and environment and on the other hand the political Declaration of Med9, is expected to be adopted tomorrow by the “9” of the southern countries of the EU. at the Athens Conference. The declaration on the climate crisis and its consequences in the Mediterranean South is an initiative of the Kyriakou Mitsotaki and aims to mobilize the forces of its countries Mediterranean new reflections and to be included in the EUMED agenda.

According with information from “K”, the draft climate change, among other things, refers to its implementation Paris Agreement and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, as well as the commitment of leaders to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The fact that this declaration will be signed in Athens is of greater importance for the role that the Mitsotakis government wants to play in this issue, putting climate change high on the agenda.

Elsewhere, the text of the conclusions is expected to address the common problems and challenges facing the South: from delinquent Eastern Mediterranean to the situation in countries such as Lebanon and Libya, developments in Afghanistan, which could potentially trigger new refugee flows and therefore EU support. neighboring countries in Afghanistan, immigration and the need to protect them EU external borders and, finally, the risk of its instrumentation immigrant from third countries, as well as the pandemic.

The fact that Med7 becomes Med9 in Athens, as well as in Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Greece and in Spain its participation is offered Croatia and her Slovenia, gives additional impetus to the project, while the presence of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who will come to attend the proceedings of the meeting, offers greater prestige, since her presence is not required by any protocol.

Apart from the immigration and the situation in Afghanistan, for Greece it is very important what the final text will include for the Eastern Mediterranean and the attitude of Turkey. According with information from “K”, among others there will be such a report: “We call on all countries in the region to respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of EU member states. in their maritime zones in accordance with international law, including the law of the sea “. The draft also mentions Turkey, which calls, among other things, for the release of Cyprus’ invitation to participate in a dialogue on the delimitation of maritime zones, leaving open the issue of appealing to the International Court of Justice.

At the same time, however, there will be a report on co-operation with Turkey, subject to compliance with the conditions set by the European Council last June. In thought, there is no condemnation of Turkey for what it did in Varosia.