The parties of the Mediterranean and European Left met on 18 June in Brussels for the first time since the increasing Western militarisation due to the war in Ukraine.The left parties confirmed their solidarity and mutual support at a time when the effects of NATO and EU militarisation, which has spiked following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have dire economic, social and climate consequences not only in Europe but globally.

In particular, we witness a food crisis and social and economic destitutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and a sharp increase in the numbers of refugees in Africa and in the Mediterranean.The current situation is also characterized by manoeuvres of NATO and the EU with the aim of influencing the public opinion in favour of rearmament. These are also directed against the left forces opposing NATO, rearmament, and arms procurement.In order to highlight our struggle against rearmament, the European Left is attending the Peace summit in Madrid on 24-26 June, which will represent the interest of the peoples vis-à-vis the NATO summit planned for 29-30 June.The same interest of populations and defence of the environment will gather our forces in the Counter-summit linked to the COP27, which is going to be held at the end of this year in Egypt.The European Left and the parties from around the Mediterranean reaffirm their unwavering support for the right of self-determination through a free and democratic referendum of the people of Western Sahara, warning the United Nations against unilateral approaches that are outside the UN Charter and International Law. We denounce the Abraham accords and their negative impact on the legitimate aspirations of the Saharawi and Palestinian peoples.The parties in the meeting condemned the policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, represented by the demolition of homes, collective punishments, land confiscations, the blockade of Gaza, restrictions of movement, and the systematic and extrajudicial daily killing of Palestinians, including the assassination of the Palestinian journalist Shereen Abu Aqleh. The parties also emphasised the need to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, to boycott it and to stop normalisation of relations with it. They affirmed the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation by all legitimate means in their quest for freedom, self-determination, return and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state on all the occupied Palestinian lands, including Jerusalem.The destabilising effects of Western militarisation and imperialism, of the war in Ukraine, and of conflicting global power competition are huge, especially in the Mediterranean region. Here, they are compounded by the effects of climate change, the already increasing conflicts caused by the ongoing colonisation and oppression, as well as the quest for energy/natural gas (as it is seen in the Eastern Mediterranean), and recently the threats of new aggression by ErdoganThe parties of the Mediterranean and European Left support the social and democratic struggles of youth and women as an alternative force to resist militarisation, imperialism, and colonisation.