Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, will attend a summit between European Union and Gulf leaders in Brussels.
The EU confirmed Mohammed’s presence late Tuesday, ahead of the first-ever meeting of its kind. It is a stunning reversal for the leader who was once persona non grata in Western countries after the killing and dismemberment of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The act is believed to have been committed at his direction in 2018.
Mohammed will be joined by senior EU officials, including European Council President Charles Michel, who initiated the crown prince’s presence with his own visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this summer. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend.
In general terms, the summit aims to show “the improvement of relations between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which have become more and more intense in recent years,” as one Council official put it. The meeting comes amid fears of full-scale war in the Middle East and as the EU’s 27 leaders prepare to tackle the issue of migration at their own meeting later this week.
However, according to the draft statement seen by Politico, the EU is struggling to get the Gulf countries to agree to a number of pro-Ukraine commitments.
The list of participants in the summit has been closely guarded, with EU officials previously citing security concerns, even as doubts about the status of participants threatened to undermine the summit’s credibility. The other GCC power, the United Arab Emirates, will be represented only by its deputy prime minister and chief financial officer, Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, and Oman will also send a deputy prime minister.
The other GCC countries, Kuwait and Bahrain, will however be represented by their heads of government, according to the list of participants in the meeting. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has long been confirmed as co-host as Doha holds the rotating GCC presidency.
At least one key EU leader, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, plans to skip the GCC summit. Citing a “long-arranged meeting” at home, a spokesman for Scholz said the German leader would be represented by Macron.
In recent years, the EU has strengthened its ties with the fossil fuel-rich region, especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the relationship has faced serious obstacles: The Qatargate scandal, in which a senior MEP was accused of accepting cash after promoting labor rights in Doha, froze the country’s visa-free EU ambitions .