Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, on Monday urged enhanced security cooperation, increased climate financing, and stronger multilateral mechanisms during the EU-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, held in Santa Marta, Colombia, as part of the IV CELAC-EU Summit.

The high-level meeting, convened by European Council President António Costa and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, brought together leaders of Caribbean CELAC countries to discuss issues of shared importance to both regions.

Phillips reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to maintaining the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, saying the region must collectively address existing and emerging security threats, including challenges to sovereignty and territorial integrity, transnational crime, cybersecurity, inequality, and irregular migration.

He cited a recent tragedy in Guyana to underscore the urgency of improved regional security coordination.

"Just yesterday, our country buried a six-year-old girl, Soraya Bourne, innocent victim of what we believe to be a terrorist bombing at a gas station in our nation's capital linked to migrants. It could have been much worse! But this is one too many. Guyana is now on a new level of alert to prevent a recurrence."

Phillips said tackling such threats requires cooperation across multiple levels, including intelligence sharing, capacity building, joint research, and norm-setting.

"The UN Charter and international law provide an essential safeguard and we must continue to advocate for and insist on this… but today’s increasingly complex environment demands a more effective multilateralism, through strengthened international cooperation and enhanced governance supported by more agile and responsive mechanisms."

He warned of growing security risks stemming from the misuse of artificial intelligence and the spread of disinformation.

Turning to climate change, Phillips said Hurricane Melissa had demonstrated the region’s vulnerability, stressing that greater support is needed for adaptation, loss and damage, and resilience building.

He said climate action depends heavily on the accessibility of financing and the fair treatment of debt exacerbated by climate-related disasters.

"The global financial system must become nimbler in mobilising short-term equity for crisis response and long-term funding for sustainable development, as proposed in the Bridgetown Initiative."

The prime minister also called for stronger political backing for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, which he said determines access to concessional climate financing.

Phillips acknowledged longstanding cooperation between the EU and the Caribbean, citing the EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement and the Global Gateway initiative, and expressed Guyana’s appreciation for the ongoing partnership through bilateral, regional, and global frameworks. (OPM)

EU-Caribbean leaders followed their engagement Credit: OPM