The “European-Gulf” summit will begin today, Wednesday, in Brussels, which will discuss ways to find a solution to the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, reduce the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and also the process of finding a just peace for Ukraine.
It is the first summit of its kind that brings together leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and leaders of the European Union countries, with the participation of 33 heads of state and prime ministers.
According to Luigi Di Maio, the European Union envoy to the Gulf states, “It will be the first summit ever between the two groups, attended by heads of state and government from both sides, making it the pinnacle of the strategic level of cooperation between the two parties.”
In turn, Saudi Arabia announced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will head the Kingdom’s delegation to the summit scheduled for Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium.
The Saudi News Agency “SPA” said on Tuesday, “Based on the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, heads the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the “Gulf-European” summit scheduled to be held in the city of Brussels.” Belgian today, Wednesday.
An informed Saudi source confirmed that “the Crown Prince will arrive in Brussels on the sixteenth of this month to participate in the discussions of the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council summit that will be held in Brussels.”
Christophe Varno, the European Union ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, expected “that there will be a strong and unified position between the Gulf and European sides regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Varno pointed out that the leaders will discuss for half a day in Brussels today, Wednesday, a number of issues with a common desire between the two sides to enhance cooperation and partnership. They will also discuss the files of the economy, investment and trade exchange, which has reached 170 billion euros between the two sides in terms of goods only, not services.
The summit, held for the first time, aims to show unity in everything from trade to energy to security, but a leaked joint statement circulated last Monday instead highlighted some areas of tension between the European Union and the Gulf states over the Ukrainian crisis.
The draft joint statement, seen by Politico, showed that the Gulf states rejected a unified call to stop cooperation with Russia and confront what they called “evasion” of Western sanctions against Russia.
The two sides are also set to underscore the growing energy partnership, specifically citing renewable energy, hydrogen, annual climate summits and the Paris Agreement, the 2015 agreement to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Last updated: October 16, 2024 – 10:39
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