Nine European countries bordering the Mediterranean who met in Athens under EUMed9 Summit on Friday agreed on global action against climate change and to preserve the natural environment of the Mediterranean. 

Referring to the recent fires that hit several South Mediterranean countries, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "this summer's catastrophic fires did not leave any Mediterranean country unscathed, while northern countries were hit by deadly floods”.

He added that Greece and its allies are working on building a stronger civil protection mechanism as well as protecting the forest and seas.

In a declaration issued at the end of the meeting, the leaders of nine countries committed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement to work towards the reduction of the global temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The leaders also discussed the recent crisis in Afghanistan and migration issues. Greek prime minister said, "we will not allow the recurrence of the phenomenon of uncontrolled migration flows that we experienced in 2015”.

The participants also adopted a joint declaration on issues of political and humanitarian significance; referring to peace, security, and stability in the Mediterranean as a strategic priority to the EU.

They also discussed the situation in Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan, and the joint efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, amongst other issues.

The summit, which took place in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre brought together leaders of Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus, Slovenia, and Croatia. Portugal had sent its foreign minister, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attend the meeting./agencies