EU FMs to express support to Kuwaiti mediation efforts
European Union (EU) foreign ministers’ will discuss the situation in the Gulf region and are expected to express their support to the Kuwaiti mediation to defuse the tensions, senior EU official said. Ahead of the meeting in Luxembourg, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini told reporters that she was personally in contact on daily basis with all the relevant players including the foreign ministers of Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “We are supporting very much the Kuwaiti mediation efforts and I expect today from the ministers another sign and determination of the European Union to back our friends and brothers from Kuwait in this difficult work they are doing. They need our support and we stand ready to help,” stressed Mogherini.
“Any difficulties and tensions can and must be solved at the table, by dialogue and politically. No unilateral steps. We invite all to de-escalate tensions and engage in direct dialogue,” she said. “It is always possible and even more so among countries that belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council,” she noted.
Mogherini added that the EU also has a direct interest in the Gulf countries cooperating among themselves. “They are all our partners in the fight against terrorism. They are all our partners economically. But they are all our partners in trying to solve some of the regional crises,” she said. The foreign ministers of the 28-member European bloc will also discuss counter terrorism, EU-NATO cooperation, Iraq and a report on the implementation of the EU’s global strategy. —KUNA