The presidents of the six member states of the Arraiolos Group, including Croatia's Zoran Milanovic, have appealed to all Mediterranean countries, the European Union and the international community to join efforts to halt the effects of the climate crisis, Milanovic's office said in a press release on Thursday.

In light of the catastrophic forest fires and other natural disasters facing the people and countries of the Mediterranean Basin, the presidents of the Mediterranean countries of the Arraiolos Group agreed and adopted the Joint Declaration “Appeal for the Mediterranean” to raise awareness of an effective and rapid response to the consequences of the climate crisis, the press release said.

In addition to Croatian President Milanovićc, the declaration was adopted by Greece’s Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Italy’s Sergio Mattarella, Malta’s George Vella, Portugal’s Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Slovenia’s Natasa Pirc-Musar.

“There is no more time to waste, no more time to compromise for political or economic reasons. It is imperative to act and take urgent effective initiatives. All Mediterranean countries must coordinate and react, engage in a collective effort to halt and reverse the effects of the climate crisis,” the six heads of state said in their appeal.

They “pledge to fully support joint action initiatives and appeal to the European Union, other Mediterranean countries and the international community to keep this issue high on their political agenda.”

“As expected, the climate crisis has arrived and reached explosive proportions, so much so that there is now talk of a ‘state of climate emergency’. The UN Secretary General at the end of July called the current crisis a state of ‘global boiling’. Its effects are especially visible in our region, the Mediterranean, which is severely affected and at immediate risk of not only water and electricity scarcity, but also of floods, widespread heat waves, fires and desertification. Extreme natural phenomena are destroying the ecosystem and threatening our daily life, our way of life,” the declaration warned.

The Arraiolos Group was named after the Portuguese city which hosted in 2003 the first meeting of the presidents of EU member states with parliamentary and semi-presidential systems. The presidents, who have no executive powers, meet regularly at annual informal meetings to discuss important issues for Europe.