The first Anna Lindh Forum was inaugurated on Thursday 4th of March in Barcelona, with a presence of over 1000 civil society representatives from the 43 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Speaking at the official opening, from the CCIB International Forum Centre, the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said:

“Since 1995 we have been working towards a dream: to create a common space of peace and exchange. Today’s unprecedented gathering, along with the launch of Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat, represents a historic moment in that process.”

The Forum’s importance was reinforced by leading institutional figures, including European Commissioner Stefan Fule and United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations Jorge Sampaio, as well as the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, José Montilla, and the Mayor of the city of Barcelona Jordi Hereu.

Over the following three days, participants had the opportunity to share ideas, build new partnerships and define priority areas of action, including the reinforcement of education, translation and mobility programmes as well as work on migrant initiatives.
On the closing day of the Forum, President Azoulay said:

“There can now be no limit in terms of our ambition to bring people together for dialogue. From the level of collective participation to the quality of the debates, the Anna Lindh Forum has been a success beyond our expectations and represents an inspiration to all of us working for a common Mediterranean future.”