Fostering closer Asia-Europe cooperation

Foreign ministers and representatives of 27 countries of the EU and 19 of Asia have gathered for the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Gödöllõ, east of Budapest, to discuss ways to cope with the non-traditional security challenges.

Vice-president and high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, was of the view that the dialogue between Europe and Asia Foreign Ministers "reflects the solid engagement between the EU and Asia". She went on to say that “Asia and Europe face many common security challenges as well as sharing many interests," calling the 15-year-old ASEM framework "essential."

The agenda also included "non- traditional" security challenges like climate change, food and energy security, and the fight against piracy issues. "These problems cannot be addressed alone, only with a joint effort," Ashton said. "The people recognized the importance of working together to prepare for crisis management and the unfortunate disasters that can and will happen. The more we can collaborate on these kinds of issues and in crisis and disaster management then the more we can respond to our people's needs in advance," she added.

Japanese foreign minister Matsumuto Takeaki pointed out that the dialogue also covered counter terrorism, disaster management, nuclear safety and security, and nuclear non-proliferation.

Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi stressed that opening towards Asia is an integral part of both Hungarian and EU foreign policy. "If you look at recent trade and investment with countries like China, Japan, Korea and most of the Asian countries, the figures have increased dramatically even in the most difficult years after the crisis," Martonyi said.