European leaders to meet in Spain for EU-Med9 summit

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The leaders of nine southern EU countries and heads of the European Commission and European Council will gather in the Spanish city of Alicante Friday afternoon for the ninth EU-Med9 summit.

Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel and leaders from Croatia, Greek Cypriot administration, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain are set to discuss issues ranging from energy to climate change.

All of the countries were going to be represented by heads of state. However, on Friday, Giorgia Meloni’s office said the Italian prime minister would be unable to attend after coming down with the flu. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will replace her.

Health problems have been a pattern for this year’s summit, originally planned for late September but canceled at the last minute after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez caught COVID-19.

In 2021, the Turkish Foreign Ministry heavily criticized the joint declaration released by the group of southern EU states for being “one-sided” and divorced from reality on issues like Cyprus and migration.

A joint statement is expected to be released late Friday evening.

Ahead of the summit, the leaders of Spain, Portugal and France will also meet to discuss a proposed pipeline connecting Barcelona and Marseille.