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Bled Forum calls for partnership to resolve crises

Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Calls for partnership in face of crises, especially escalating migration crisis in Europe, were made at the 10th Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia on Monday.

The participants also urged close cooperation of all stakeholders in what is seen as the most pressing issue presently affecting the EU, according to Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

"More than ever, partnerships are needed to find compromise and solutions acceptable for all," Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said in his opening address, describing the migration crisis as "the most imminent problem".

Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec likewise noted that partnerships are needed to address the many challenges to global and regional security, including boosting the fledgling economic recovery and "coping with one of the biggest migration flows in history".

"None of these issues can be addressed without a strong and efficient international partnership."

The migration crisis was also firmly in the centre of the opening panel featuring European Council President Donald Tusk, leaders of Luxembourg, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, and representatives of the OSCE and the UN.

The leaders' panel reached a conclusion that a Europe united and open to partnerships internally and externally is most effective in dealing with the challenges of global crises.

Tusk said that for new justifications for standing strong, Europe needs only to look "who we are today and who we want to be in the future ... If we stay true to our values we will win our future".

Slovenian President Borut Pahor also took aim at weak leadership, assessing that current challenges require vision and clear solutions. He said the first solution to the migration crisis should be the adoption of mandatory quotas, which had been voted down at the EU summit in June.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said the key priority for the EU in tackling the crisis should be dealing with its root causes of migration. "This issue needs to be tackled broadly...by asking ourselves what is prompting these people to come to Europe." Enditem