Why is Maritime security so important in the Mediterranean region?

The Mediterranean Sea separates Europe from North Africa. It is linked to

the Atlantic Ocean, at the Strait of Gibraltar, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean
by the Suez Canal and the Black Sea. The main subdivisions are the
Adriatic, Aegean, Ionian, and Tyrrhenian seas. The coastline extends
46,000 km/28,580 mi, running through 22 countries

For centuries, the Mediterranean has been a meeting place for different
populations, cultures and interests. During both World Wars, the
Mediterranean Sea has been of utmost importance and since then it has
also been of great strategic importance to Europe and the USA. Since then
it has grown by including within it the Black and Red Sea. The
Mediterranean has always been and still is a major sea thoroughfare, east-
west and north –south. The instability and insecurity of some of the regions
e.g. the Middle East, have the power to threaten the whole of the
Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean needs a region-wide security
cooperation framework to combat the instabilities and threats of a region
that consists of different political, demographic, economics, culture,
languages and religion. (Ormanci, 2000)

The Mediterranean Sea is vital and central to governments and institutions

that endeavour to improve the overall security climate, especially for
NATO. Following the NATO summit meeting in Istanbul in June 2004,
NATO is developing closer security partnerships with countries bordering
the Mediterranean. There are several reasons why NATO is interested in
fostering stability and security in this region. One of the main reasons is
that the Mediterranean Sea is rife with terrorist activities, proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and organized crime amongst others.

Security analysis of the Mediterranean region is a difficult task when one

considers that the geographical area is truly a vast one and includes 3 sub-
regional groupings: Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France,
Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta), the Mashreq (Jordan, Israel, Syria,
Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority) and Maghreb ( Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya). These states all share a common
sea, but there are great differences among these sub regional groups
especially with regard to economic and political stability (Ormanci, 2000).

Tackling the Immigration problem

What could be the major security threats to the Mediterranean in the era of
globalization? Mediterranean security depends a lot on its neighbouring
basins, such as the Black sea, Red sea and Indian sea. The most serious
problem in the relationships between North and South Mediterranean is the
constant flow of illegal immigrants. The southern shores increasingly
invaded by people coming from south Saharan Africa. The demographic
imbalance in these countries plus their stagnant economies and
unemployment increases the migratory pressures towards the north of the
Mediterranean (Ormanci, 2000). Every year thousands of people try to
dodge strict maritime border controls and risk their lives on overloaded
little boats. Libya is a very important last transit country. Around 2 million
foreigners live in the Great Jamahiriya with the intention of continuing
their journey to Europe. These represent the majority of the illegal
immigrants. European Mediterranean countries of first destination for
migrants and refugees arriving by sea are Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta and
Cyprus. Not all those who leave the North African coasts survive their
journey to Europe. Thousands of them die every year while trying to cross
the Mediterranean Sea.

Countries of transit have no interest in stopping illegal migration, on the

contrary, they often benefit from transit migration movements. In recent
years in Libya, for example, a lively border economy with shops etc
thrived along the main migration routes from southern neighbouring
countries (Cuttitta, 2007). Libya is the only North African country that
does not accept immigrants, therefore reserved shares within the system of
legal immigration quotas can not be used as a diplomatic weapon towards
the Libyan government. Illegal immigration thus became one of the main
levers Libya could make use of in order to exert pressure on the EU. The
Libyan regime has long been suspected of voluntarily regulating the
concentration of illegal migration flows through Libya towards Europe by
alternating the tightening and loosening border controls (Cuttitta, 2007).
The EU started the Barcelona Process because of fears of immigration
from the South and xenophobia in the North. It also perceived security
threats arising from the South, such as terrorism and trafficking of
weapons of mass destruction, coupled with the growth of militant Islamic
fundamentalism (Adler & Crawford 2002). The Barcelona Process laid the
foundations of a new regional relationship which represents a turning point
in Euro-Mediterranean relations. In the Barcelona Declaration, the Euro-
Mediterranean partners established the three main objectives of the
Partnership:

1. The definition of a common area of peace and stability through the

reinforcement of political and security dialogue (Political and
Security Chapter).

2. The construction of a zone of shared prosperity through an

economic and financial partnership and the gradual establishment of
a free-trade area (Economic and Financial Chapter).

3. The rapprochement between peoples through a social, cultural and

human partnership aimed at encouraging understanding between
cultures and exchanges between civil societies (Social, Cultural and
Human Chapter).

Illegal migration across the Mediterranean has always been one of the core
issues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which was started in
Barcelona in 1995. The so called “Barcelona process” aims at deepening
political, economic and cultural relations between EU member states and
the states of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean shores. Members of
the partnership are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, the
Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Jordan, the Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
and all EU member states (Cyprus and Malta were members of the
partnership already before accessing the EU) (Cuttita, 2007).

On 30th November 2005 the European Commission decided to prioritize

actions for improving migration management. They proposed to develop a
series of actions to be carried out in partnership with source and transit
countries. The situations that Lampedusa and Malta are encountering with
regard to migrants have made it clear to the EU that urgent action is
required to manage the migration situation in the Mediterranean. On 30
November 2005, the Commission published a communication on
migration management proposing three suggested strands:

1. Strengthening co-operation on border security: this includes a

proposal for a Mediterranean coastal patrols network which would
intercept vessels carrying illegal immigrants, thus protecting legal
immigration and stopping the loss of life caused by such illegal
traffic. The network would be coordinated by the recently established
FRONTEX borders agency.
2. EU-Africa co-operation: the EU will seek to work closely with
African countries on the management of migration flows.
3. Euromed co-operation: within the EU-Mediterranean partnership,
the EU will provide training, equipment and support to its Euromed
partner countries.

Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo has called on Ambassadors of

European Union Member States residing in Malta to ask for urgent help in
dealing with the very grave situation with regard illegal immigration.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has written to the
leaders of all 25 EU member nations calling for more solidarity to tackle
the growing problem of illegal immigration Barroso stressed that
immigration is a "European problem and requires a European solution" His
message is a call to all members to help out the EU immigration front-line
nations, notably Spain, Italy and Malta.

Maritime security in the Mediterranean is vast and complex and

encompasses various options of approaches to deal with the various
problems of this region. The Mediterranean region can be considered as a
frontier which faces instability that may pose serious threats to its security.
The Maghreb and the Middle East security arrangements are minimal,
unresolved issues of the Western Sahara and the worsening situation in
Algeria are all problematic when it comes to creating a holistic
Mediterranean maritime security (De Vasconcelos, 2002). The Israeli –
Palestinian conflict and the precarious situation in Lebanon are other major
issues in the Mediterranean region. In this paper, I have focused on illegal
immigration, since Malta is encountering very serious security problems
relating to this issue.