Baptism Site, December 9 (Petra) -- His Majesty King Abdullah II and Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama co-chaired a new round of the Aqaba Process meetings at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Bethany Beyond the Jordan) on Tuesday.

According to a royal court statement, the meetings, organised jointly by Jordan and Albania with a focus, for the fourth time, on the Balkan countries covered ways to promote interfaith dialogue and emphasise commonalities to promote peace and security.

At the end of the meetings attended by His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, His Majesty’s chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy participants agreed that the shared responsibilities facing communities in the Balkans require the promotion of values of brotherly cooperation and mutual understanding and respect.

They also highlighted that these commonalities should be fundamental pillars and reference points for communities to interact in a spirit of responsibility and solidarity, to work for the future of the peoples of the Middle East and Europe.

The meetings were attended by Muslim and Christian religious leaders from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Montenegro, as well as Jerusalem, Syria, and Jordan.

Since the launch of the Aqaba Process initiative 10 years ago by His Majesty, previous rounds have been hosted by Jordan, and other countries and organisations in partnership with Jordan, including Spain, Albania, Indonesia, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Rwanda, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Norway, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Nations.

The initiative aims to enhance coordination, cooperation, and exchange of expertise among various regional and international parties in countering extremism.

In addition to the Balkans, previous rounds of the Aqaba Process meetings focused on East Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, West Africa, and the Sahel.

//Petra// AK