Macron Wants a Stronger EU in the Mediterranean

In a speech on Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron said he wants a stronger EU in the Mediterranean in order to resist other powers like Turkey and Russia, Le Monde reports.
“The Mediterranean zone will be the challenge of the coming years,” he said as quoted by EUobserver on Tuesday.
“Many crisis factors are coming together there: maritime disputes, destabilisation of Libya, migration, trafficking of arms and people, access to resources,” said Macron.
In the meantime 27 EU foreign affairs ministers clashed with Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a meeting on Monday over “illegal Turkish drilling activities in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus”, over Turkey’s role in the Libyan conflict and over the decision to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, a common statement of the EU-27 said.
Josep Borrell was tasked to explore ways to lower the tensions./argumentum.al