The EU wants to be an important geopolitical player in the Mediterranean

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BRUSSELS – By establishing a department for the Mediterranean, the European Commission aims to be a more significant geopolitical player in its southern neighborhood and can help in addressing migration issues, said the new Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, in an interview with Hina.

Šuica, who in the previous Commission of Ursula von der Leyen was the Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, is now responsible for the Mediterranean in the new composition, which is a new “European ministry”.

At the very beginning of the new mandate of the European Commission, she responded in writing to Hina’s questions about what her new duty encompasses, what her first actions will be, and why the Commission decided to form a new department.

“The Mediterranean is very important for Croatia and the European Union because as a strategic trade route it connects Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. It is also crucial for regional stability, especially from the perspective of migration, and it affects the energy, economic, and political stability of the EU and the whole world,” says Šuica, adding that it is a particular honor for her, as a commissioner from Croatia, to have the opportunity to lead a new and important department.

To illustrate the importance of the Mediterranean, Šuica mentions a little-known fact to the general public that Algeria is the second largest supplier of natural gas to the European Union. (December 3, 2024)

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