The Chief of Staff of the Armada (AJEMA) attends the ‘5+5 Initiative’ meeting in Tripoli.

The Chief of Staff of the Armada, Admiral General Antonio Piñeiro Sánchez is attending, along with other Naval Chiefs of Staff, the 13^th meeting of the ‘5+5 Initiative’ held in the Libyan capital (September 9 – 11).

Under the central topic ‘Maritime security in the Defense 5+5 Sphere: Challenges between Reality and Expectations’, the ‘5+5 Initiative’ has as its main objective to promote contact, collaboration and the exchange of information between the Navies and Armed Forces of the Western Mediterranean or, in other words, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia.

The ‘Western Mediterranean Forum’ or ‘5+5 Dialogue’ was created, informally, in 1990 as a debate on reinforced cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In its origins, it began in a Foreign Affairs format (Rome 1990 and Algiers 1991) to progressively expand over the years.

Thus, the Defense format as it is known nowadays, began on December 21^st 2004 in Paris with a Declaration of Intent proposed by Spain, where the fundamental objectives were established to promote mutual knowledge, reinforce understanding, consolidate trust between member nations and develop multilateral cooperation.

It should be noted that, in the remainder of the year, Spain will organize the 16^th Meeting of Chiefs of Defense Staff and the Naval Coordination Group which will take place in October and November, respectively. Likewise, in the month of November, the 39^th Meeting of the Steering Committee will coordinate and agree the activities to be conducted next year. The 20^th Meeting of Defense Ministers (November 27-28) will approve the Action Plan corresponding to 2025.