On 21st of May, André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and Andreu Claret, Executive Director met in Barcelona with Mr Jose Montilla, President of the Catalan government and Mr Josep Hereu, Mayor of Barcelona. The meeting aimed to discuss the organization of the “Anna Lindh Forum 2010” in Barcelona, during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, which will start in January of the same year.

This regional Forum, which is fully supported by the Spanish partners, will be the first "Etats Généraux" of the ALF National Networks, gathering hundreds of civil society organizations of the Networks in 2010.

Mr Montilla and Mr Hereu assured the participation of their institutions in the preparation and the execution of the Forum, organized by the Anna Lindh Foundation in collaboration with the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Head of the ALF Spanish Network.

The aim of the Forum will be to revive the cooperation and the partnership between the civil societies engaged in promoting cultural dialogue in the region and its impact on the project of the Union for the Mediterranean. The Forum will include a space of debate, a space of intercultural dialogue and a space of artistic performance. In addition, the Forum will enhance the action plan of the ALF National Networks and the Foundation's programme for the coming period.

"The Anna Lindh 2010 Forum will allow opinion makers, civil society actors, academics, as well as all those who think or act on the content of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership through our Networks to gather and voice their expectations and assessments to member States and Governments of the Partnership", declared A. Azoulay after the meeting.