PREVIEW - Mediterranean Dialogues Forum 4th Edition Starts In Rome On Thursday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2018) The fourth edition of the annual Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) forum, organized by the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), will take place Italy's Rome on November 22-24.

The three-day forum will open with welcoming remarks by ISPI President Giampiero Massolo, as well as keynote speeches by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy Enzo Moavero Milanesi and President of Iraq Barham Salih in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Traditionally all plenary sessions and special dialogues of MED will be dedicated to the forum's four main pillars: Shared Prosperity, Shared Security, Migration and Civil Society, and Culture.

A special focus will be put on fight against terrorism, technology and economic growth as the major goals. Special attention will be paid to the situation in Yemen, Libya and Gaza as well as in Iran amid reimposed US sanctions. Participants will also discuss youth employment and digital security in the Mediterranean region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the MED for the fourth time and will deliver a speech on Friday in the framework of the special dialogue format.

The special dialogue format will also feature addresses by the ministers of foreign affairs of Iran, Qatar, Palestine, Egypt and the speaker of Israel's Knesset.

The list of high ranking attendees of the forum includes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta Carmelo Abela and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan Ayman Al Safadi.

Every year the MED forum brings together the world's heads of states, ministers, businessmen and leading experts. This year, about 1,000 participants from than 50 countries are expected to attend the event.

MED-2018, as all previous forums, aims at drafting a "positive agenda" for the Mediterranean region by stimulating debate and promoting new ideas, rethinking traditional approaches and addressing shared challenges at both the regional and the international level.