ZAGREB, 17 Oct (Hina) - Croatia has a special role in the Mediterranean owing to the strategic position of the Adriatic Sea, and Dubrovnik naturally stands out as the seat of the European initiative for a Mediterranean University, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said at a conference in Naples.
"Our strategic position on the Adriatic gives us a unique role -- we connect the Mediterranean with Central Europe and serve as a bridge toward the Western Balkans," Grlić Radman said on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) conference in Naples.
Croatia will continue to contribute to strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and promoting joint solutions in the fields of security, energy, and economic and social connectivity across the Mediterranean, he said.
Grlić Radman noted that next year Croatia will, for the first time, assume the presidency of the EU MED 9 format, "which further confirms the country's growing influence in the Mediterranean."
The EU MED 9 brings together nine Mediterranean EU member states, which will meet next week in Portorož, Slovenia, with expected participants including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Jordan's King Abdullah II, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Next year, Croatia will also take over the presidency of the Three Seas Initiative, a format that brings together the countries of the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas with the aim of strengthening integration and accelerating development.
At the Naples forum, Grlić Radman highlighted the importance of the European initiative to establish a Mediterranean University, adding that Dubrovnik -- thanks to its rich diplomatic tradition and Mediterranean ties -- naturally stands out as the hub of this network and a regional centre of knowledge, dialogue and cooperation.
According to the European Commission, the initiative envisions a university network linking institutions from both shores of the Mediterranean through academic cooperation, joint research, and cultural exchange.
