The FAES Foundation, along with the CES Foundation of the European Popular Party and the IDC, held a conference on North Africa and the Arab Nations from 10-15 December in Madrid. In attendance were political parties from Mauritania, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon and Kurdistan, as well as representatives of the National Democratic Institute in Washington, along with representatives of civil society from Libya, Turkey, Syria and Egypt.
The conference was held at FAES Foundation headquarters as well as at the Casa Árabe, under the auspices of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Participating were, among others, former Spanish President José María Aznar; the Secretary- General of the European Popular Party; and the Executive Secretary of the IDC, Antonio Lopez- Istúriz; along with FAES Foundation Director Tomi Huhtanen.
On behalf of FAES participating were International Area Director Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs for Cooperation and Latin America Jesús Gracia; and Secretary of State for Trade Jaime García Legaz; as well as a significant number of speakers, teachers, professors, entrepreneurs, researchers…
The level of participation and the exchanges of ideas and experiences which took place reflected the event’s success, at which an important variety of topics, such as “Principles and Values of Democracy” were analyzed, in addition to “La fuerza de la libertad” (“The Power of Freedom”), “La importancia de la libertad económica” (“The Importance of Economic Freedom”) and “La cooperación internacional y la Primavera Árabe” (“International Cooperation and the Arab Spring”).
The participation of the attendees and the exchanges of perspectives among speakers and participants was very interesting for everyone, as they made possible in-depth discussions on current issues of great interest.
On Friday 15th the conference ended with a trip to Toledo where the participants were greeted in the Regional Parliament by the President of Castile La Mancha / Secretary General of the Popular Party. The visit to the city brought the conference to a close.
