Brussels. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the EU called on Wednesday, during a summit in Brussels, to stop the escalation and avoid a regional conflagration in the Middle East.
The list of participants included the Saudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salmán, de facto leader of the oil power, whose presence was confirmed at the last minute.
“We are concerned about the increase in tensions in the region [de Medio Oriente] and we urge all parties to exercise restraint, avoid further escalation and engage in international diplomatic efforts to end the current destructive cycle of violence,” reads the Joint Communiqué at the end of the summit.
“In light of the serious escalation and ongoing war in the Middle East and Europe, we confirm our strategic commitment to work towards improved security and de-escalation for the benefit of both regions,” the text adds.
“Our shared priority is an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of hostages and full access of civilians in Gaza to humanitarian aid, and the same in Lebanon,” the EU diplomat said at the end of the meeting. , Josep Borrell.
“Although we do not have the same positions on all issues, we agree on many,” he added.
“We need to do everything in our power and mobilize all our diplomatic skills to stop an extremely dangerous escalation,” stressed the president of the European Commission (executive arm of the EU) Ursula von der Leyen.
An EU source noted that at the meeting all parties stressed the need for a ceasefire, both in Gaza and Lebanon, and to respect international law and international humanitarian law.
The emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, noted that “the war that Israel has waged until today against Palestine and Lebanon, which made war crimes something normal, is something that we cannot accept.”
“We need a solution to these conflicts. We need to find a solution to the Palestinian cause,” he added.
The leaders of the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) and the 27 EU also discussed issues of trade, energy, human rights and climate change. .
However, the delicate situation in the entire region and the danger of a generalization of the conflict made the Middle East the predominant issue on the agenda.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, noted that the various geopolitical crises “have caused immense human suffering” and called for “acting with determination to change the course of history.”
Advancing trade
The EU, the GCC’s second largest trading partner, seeks to further strengthen economic ties between the two blocs.
However, talks on a free trade agreement, which began in the 1990s, remain stalled.
“We agreed to move forward with negotiations on a free trade agreement and we must seek all options to strengthen our economic cooperation and trade relations with all partners,” Borrell declared.
The two blocs exhibit obvious differences, particularly over the war in Ukraine, because the Gulf countries have not supported the policy of sanctions against Russia for having invaded the former Soviet republic in 2022.
“We are much more in agreement in the Middle East,” another European official said Tuesday. “For both the EU and the GCC, we want stability in the region and de-escalation” of tensions, he added.
The talks come amid the Israeli military campaign against the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, where more than 1,300 people have been killed and 1 million displaced since late September, according to Lebanese officials.
EU countries have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza.
The influential Bin Salman, 39, last month ruled out the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel without prior recognition of a Palestinian state.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates established formal ties with Israel in 2020.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘133913093805922’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Contact’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Donate’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘FindLocation’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Lead’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Search’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Subscribe’, {value: ‘0.00’, currency: ‘MXN’, predicted_ltv: ‘0.00’});
fbq(‘track’, ‘ViewContent’);
#Gulf #countries #urge #stop #escalation #Middle #East
–
