Spanish King Urges Largest Eurasian Dialogue Forum to Give Up Isolationist Policies

MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) Isolationism is a dead-end strategy for confronting contemporary global challenges, and no single country should be excluded, willingly or unwillingly, from the international community, Spanish King Felipe VI said on Monday at the ministerial summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The two-day 14th meeting of the ASEM foreign ministers launched on Sunday in Madrid. Among the participants are more than 50 delegates of European and Asian countries, as well as the new EU chief for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell.

Felipe VI began his address by describing the ASEM as one of the most prestigious international dialogues and "an ideal framework to discuss and advance new ideas or proposals at a crucial moment in history." He further emphasized the variety of regional and global challenges that the international community faces today.

"All peoples and every country should be concerned and involved; none should hide in isolation and think that one can do well if disengaged, or by taking an inward-looking approach to present risks and challenges that � like migration, climate change, criminality, financial shocks.

.. � do not respect or halt at any border," the Spanish king said.

Felipe VI called for unity among the ASEM members in terms of preserving multilateralism and international order.

"In a context in which challenges are global, problems can only be truly solved at the international level, and with the multilateralism that we are championing today," he added.

According to the Spanish king, the agenda of the ASEM ministerial meeting includes matters of� building sustainable connectivity between Europe and Asia, as well as climate change, sustainable development, sea pollution and international security issues such as counterterrorism, maritime security and cybersecurity.

The ASEM format of Eurasia-wide dialogue was established in 1996. As of today, it includes 51 European and Asian countries, accounting for 60 percent of the world population, 65 percent of the global GDP and 75 percent of global tourism, as well as two international organizations � a the European Commission and the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.