At a ceremony held in room 10 of the UNED of Melilla Foundation for Moroccan socio-economic development (FHIMADES) presented yesterday its new website, as well as the “Journal of the 1st Conference of the EU external borders”, latest release, in English and Spanish, edited in collaboration with the Office of Melilla-Europe Direct European information.

The President of the Foundation, Jose Maria Lopez Bueno, unveiled the contents of the website www.fhimades.org, in Spanish, English and French. The new web page replaces the created seven years on the occasion of the start of FHIMADES. In this regard, it stressed that the new web space offers extensive content related to the external borders of the European Union, especially news that will appear periodically, publications and articles of different experts and university professors.

Lopez Bueno stressed the importance of promoting information on external borders because, as he said, the same geographical location of Melilla makes it a unique reference for this subject of study. Thus, he reflected that Melilla border of Spain with Morocco but is also, along with the of Ceuta, the only land border of the European Union in the Maghreb, an aspect which, as he stressed, should always be considered by the European institutions.

Melilla, in the opinion of the President of FHIMADES, should take advantage of all the European Union policies related to this issue, “because it is so border outside the European Union such as Sweden with Norway or Greece with Turkey”, stressed.

Melilla and the EU

For its part, Dionisio García Flórez journalist was presented the book “Diary of the 1st Conference on the EU’s external borders”, a publication by the presentation of the President of the autonomous city, Juan José Imbroda, which includes the papers presented to this activity of FHIMADES which took place in May of last year in Melilla.

García Flórez was considered of interest to manage different aid provided by the EU to Morocco aimed at cross-border cooperation, so that they take into account also the situation of Melilla and Ceuta in the area. Thus, it stressed that that way the two cities could be used as runways for the modernization and improvement of the trade of the EU with Morocco.

Regarding the presented book played a role that the European Union should find a “common thread” to manage different European borders, regardless of the characteristics of each, with a policy that could serve for the Mediterranean, including Melilla lies both the eastern borders.

Participated in sessions of the EU’s external borders María Elena Cavallaro, presented the paper entitled “Italy and the EU borders”; the Finnish Professor Tuomo Melasuo, with the work “Challenging opportunities borders”; Polish Professor Piotr Rakowski, Rapporteur on “the Polish Eastern border as external border of the European Union. The experiences of the Presidency of the Council of the EU and a look beyond”, and Professor George Tzogopoulos, author of” problems in the Greek border: a challenge for security and public opinion “. These papers have been collected in the book, which FHIMADES be distributed among the main national and international institutions dedicated to this area.