Gulf states sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in Iran Israel conflict!

Описание: Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates European Union and Gulf Co-operation Council leaders will meet in Brussels on Wednesday to strengthen security and economic relations in an inaugural summit to be co-hosted by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim and European Council President Charles Michel.

The summit has been in the works for the past two years, but European and Arab officials said that it has become more important as Israel's war against Gaza, and more recently Lebanon, threatens to spread and engulf Iran.

“I expect the Middle East to be a central piece of the discussion, especially with the role that some Gulf countries are playing in trying to reach a ceasefire,” an EU official said ahead of the meeting. “We want to avoid a general conflagration, which is a fear on both sides.”

The summit will begin at foreign affairs minister level on Tuesday evening, followed by a leaders' meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Leaders are expected to make announcements concerning trade and the economy, while also expressing concern over the destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure by Russia. A joint statement is in preparation, but not guaranteed.

The UAE is scheduled to be represented by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, The National can reveal. A full list of attendees has yet to be published.

Europeans are keen to find a common language for international conflicts and to offset the energy imbalance caused by the war in Ukraine, yet the mood in the GCC could be described as "sceptically optimistic", wrote the Dubai-based commentator Saeed Alblooshi for the British defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

"While GCC capitals share the European enthusiasm for strengthening relations, the shadow of double-standard measures towards the Middle East in comparison to Ukraine remains, and Gulf decision-makers are concerned about whether pragmatic results can be achieved from the summit," wrote Mr Alblooshi.

Speaking to reporters as he headed into the ministerial meeting, the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that both sides shared a joint desire for peace. "The advantage of tonight's working dinner is that we are sitting among friends, people who know each other, and trust each other," he said, responding to a question from The National. "In the end, the target, the purpose, the objective is the same: to have peace among people in Ukraine and in the Middle East."

The EU must work harder to listen to the Arab world, said Austria's Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberg. "We have to hear what the Arab world has to say on these conflicts. We are neighbours. They are affected. They have to be part of the solution," Mr Schallenberg said.

A two-year old strategy
Public statements from Gulf officials about the summit have so far been enthusiastic. There is a "mutual willingness to bolster strategic partnership to the highest levels and create communication channels aiming at ensuring regional and global security and stability," said Kuwait's ambassador to the EU, Nawaf Al-Enezi, reported the state-run Kuwait News Agency. Kuwait will be represented by Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Qatar, which will co-host the summit as rotating president of the GCC, also has high hopes for the summit, said its ambassador Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Jehani Al Malki. Speaking to Qatar's News Agency, Mr Al Malki said that leaders will "discuss aspects of co-operation and unifying visions on many issues, in a bid to develop a vision and an end to the crises in the region."

The summit comes two months after a tour of the Gulf by Mr Michel, who met President Sheikh Mohamed in Abu Dhabi on August 30.

The EU in May 2022 launched a strategic partnership that included issues of shared concern, such as security and the green transition. In May 2023, it nominated its first EU-Gulf envoy, former Italian foreign affairs minister Luigi di Maio.

"We are now ready to go further in facing together the current challenges in the global arena," wrote the EU's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Christophe Farnaud, in an op-ed published by the news website Arab News on Tuesday. "The EU-GCC summit will be a milestone in our relations," he added.

Earlier this year, the EU harmonised Schengen rule requirements for visa applications in an effort to encourage more Gulf students, entrepreneurs and tourists to visit the continent.

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