H.E. Mr. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi, Minister’s Assistant for Foreign Affairs stressed on the importance of the strategic relations between the GCC countries and the EU, praising the fruitful cooperation between the two sides.

H.E. said, on the margins of the EU-GCC political dialogue presided by the State of Qatar, that “this fact was clear given the consensus on many political and economic issues on regional and international levels”. He praised the engagement of the GCC to strengthen this partnership through the exchange of expertise, views and the discussions in a transparent way of adequate solutions to common challenges.

H.E. underlines the importance of such periodic meetings that are a good opportunity to discuss the ways of enhancing the bilateral relations and to coordinate the positions on the recent regional and international developments which have an impact on the Gulf States and even on the EU.

He added “this political dialogue is more important than ever given the difficulties faced by the Middle East and the strained international relations. The situation imposes a better understanding of the challenges and to reduce the gap between the different civilizations, cultures and religions in order to make the human values common to all of us”.

“We have to work together in order to develop the political, economic and security relations for the benefits of both sides”.

The meeting was attended by the delegation accompanying the Minister’s Assistant for Foreign Affairs and HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, Head of the Mission of the State of Qatar to the EU. The State of Qatar will host, by the end of May, the 24th EU-GCC Joint Ministerial Meeting.