“Unfortunately, the rich unifying potential of the Mediterranean is not being used right now, essentially. The south of the region still suffers from many problems: the terrorist threat, the rise in organized crime, the difficult humanitarian situation, numerous violations of human rights and rights of national minorities, which led to a mass exodus of refugees and migrants. The situation of Christians living in the Middle East, who are being persecuted, causes deep concern,” he stated. “This is a very high, unacceptable price for the irresponsible political games of Washington and its European allies, who decided to test the unipolar model of world order on the nations of the Middle East and North Africa, imposing recipes for development that ignore the values of these countries and nations.”
According to the minister, Western states attempted to introduce an idea of a world order based on rules invented by them in the Middle East and North Africa region. “They completely ignore the universal international legal structures. The situation is made worse by the coronavirus pandemic that led to a rise in social-economic instability, which especially hit the unprotected layers of the population,” Lavrov noted.
The Russian top diplomat also pointed out that the majority of the issues are of a transborder nature, and that the issues that arose in one region spread to other areas of the world fast. “The issue of foreign terrorist militants is of special concern. They take part in military activities in the region, and then go back to their countries of origin, organizing sabotage, propaganda and recruitment activity there,” he stressed.“I think it would be in our shared interest to do everything possible for the Mediterranean not to be a place of confrontation, but a connecting bridge between the North and the South, so that the people living here enjoy the benefits of peace and prosperity. It is hard to achieve that, but it is possible if we unite. Russia is ready to continue facilitating the achievement of such results in any way possible,” Lavrov concluded
source:TASS
