The European Union and Northern Africa: Finding Ways for Stability and Cooperation in the Mediterranean

The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of developing cooperation in the Mediterranean and initiatives of the EU and the other countries of the region to overcome the imbalance, achieve stability and avoid possible conflicts. Attention is paid to the identification of the main problems and challenges for the EU, the proposed measures to resolve them are analyzed, and the results achieved by these projects are discussed. Research methods include a comparative historical method, statistical and structural analysis. The article is based on the documents of the forums, conferences and summits of the countries of the region and the EU, the World Bank data and the publications of foreign and Russian researchers on this topic. In the study, the milestones and forms of cooperation were considered; their turning point was the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Conference of 1995, which proposed a strategy in the political, economic and social fields to strengthen the relations and cooperation between the European countries and the countries in the Mashriq and Maghreb regions with a view to reduce existing inequalities. Another important initiative to renew partnership in the Mediterranean was the Union for the Mediterranean launched in 2008. Its main goal was to contribute to the transformation of the Mediterranean into a zone of peace, democracy, cooperation and prosperity. The increased security risks associated with the spread of terrorism and the growing religious tension triggered the convening of the Second Regional Ministerial Conference on Border Security in Rabat in 2013. At the conference, the implementation of effective measures to eradicate jihadist terrorism and organized crime in the region was discussed. The events during and after the Arab Spring indicate the growing tensions in the Mediterranean and affect radically the security strategies of all countries in the region in an attempt to understand and respond to the new political and social models emerging in the Arab countries. Based on the analysis of the documents, it can be concluded that despite the expectation of a deeper integration in the defense and security policy of the EU member states, the reality shows that in recent years all efforts in this direction have not led to the expected result. Due to the growing terrorist threat in European society, the influence of racist, xenophobic sentiments has increased. For all these reasons, the key document of the European security strategy was updated and the priority was established to guarantee the safety primarily for the citizens and the territory of the EU. It is concluded that illegal immigration, the growth of Islamic terrorism accompanied by religious exacerbation are the main threats in the Mediterranean, which can be overcome only by joint efforts of all countries of the region; therefore, interest in maintaining and developing cooperation in this area continues unabated.