AMMAN (JT) - Joint cooperation through the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM) will be a first step towards addressing regional instability, according to UPM Secretary General Ahmad Masadeh.

Addressing the Jordan Diplomatic Club on Saturday, Masadeh underlined the role of the union as “a long-term commitment to achieving, and maintaining, security, stability and prosperity in our region”.

Masadeh, who assumed his post last month, said the union will focus on six priority areas of cooperation: environmental protection, transport, civil protection, alternative energy, education and scientific research and business development.

“These projects alone will not solve the region’s most serious sources of conflict and instability, but they represent shared goals that will become shared accomplishments, making each member of our union a stakeholder in the collective security and prosperity of the region,” he said, noting that the establishment of the union represents a “promising start” to achieving peace in the region.

“The issues we face together must be solved together; and the Union for the Mediterranean embodies this principle in both its structure and its mission,” he said.

In his first official appearance in Amman since assuming his post, Masadeh underlined the significance of Jordan’s selection to serve as secretariat of the UPM.

“This trust is very important for Jordan, and also symbolic… it is a clear recognition of the values which this Kingdom entertains, values of peace loving, cooperation, moderation, openness, reconciliation and integrity,” he said, underlining that Jordan has become a model country under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah.

He also highlighted the efforts of former foreign minister Salah Bashir and current Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to ensure Jordan’s successful candidacy.

The Union for the Mediterranean was officially launched at the Paris summit in July 2008 and incorporates 43 European, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

The union aims to establish a regional cooperation structure that would contribute to achieving peace, stability and growth in the Mediterranean basin, as well as to form comprehensive economic, social and cultural partnerships between European and Mediterranean countries.

Masadeh, formerly the Kingdom’s ambassador to the EU, Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg as well as the Jordanian coordinator to the UPM and representative to NATO, was selected in mid-January by a unanimous decision passed by the permanent representatives of the union’s member states, and endorsed by their foreign ministers later in the month.

The union will hold its second summit in June in Barcelona to discuss enhancing Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.