KUWAIT: HisHighness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is heading with anofficial accompanying delegation to Egypt today to participate in theArab-European summit, scheduled to take place in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh. TheEU-Arab summit is held amid aspirations to strengthen bilateral cooperationbetween the Arab League and the European Union to promote regional andinternational security and stability. The two-day summit is the first of itskind between the two sides, especially in light of their emphasis on theimportance of dialogue between the Arab and European regions.
Egypt's PresidentAbdel Fattah Al-Sisi, whose country is hosting the summit, stressed that thisis an "excellent opportunity" to find common ground to addressregional issues. "The Arab world is Europe's first partner," Sisisaid during a meeting at the Munich Security Conference last week. Sisi notedthat Sharm El-Sheikh summit is an "important step" for thedevelopment of relations between the two sides, pointing out that stability andsecurity in the Arab region is affected by stability and security in Europe.
Greatercooperation
Klaus Iohannis,the current president of the European Union, also stressed the importance ofthe first EU-Arab summit in light of the need for deeper and greatercooperation. Iohannis affirmed that it is the time to hold a summit of Europeanand Arab leaders, expressing optimism that all problems could be resolvedthrough joint action and dialogue on regional crises, migration, economicdevelopment and security cooperation.
On February 17,the European Union said that the EU-Arab summit, to be held under thechairmanship of Egyptian President and European Council President Donald Tusk,aims to strengthen relations between the two sides. The summit will focus on anumber of common issues and challenges, the most important of which aremultilateralism, trade, investment, migration and security, in addition to thesituation in the region, said the EU in statement.
Arab LeagueSecretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a joint press conference at the endof the Brussels meeting that the two sides pledged to make additional effortsto ensure the implementation of UN resolutions, the Security Council andvarious related initiatives, especially the Arab peace initiative in the MiddleEast. EU High Representative for Foreign, Political and Security AffairsFederica Mogherini affirmed that the two sides "agree" on 95 percentof all issues under discussion.
During the pressconference, Mogherini pointed to the "conformity" of the positions ofthe EU and the Arab League on the most important current regional crises,noting that the two sides agreed on finding a political solution to the crisisin Syria and their adherence to the two-state solution in the Middle East peaceprocess. She noted that the ministers focused in the joint meeting, which shedescribed as "good and constructive" on the regional and internationalchallenges facing the two parties, including "terrorism," climatechange, migration and the human rights situation in the world.
Kuwaitparticipated in the joint ministerial meeting in Brussels with a delegationheaded by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-KhaledAl-Hamad Al-Sabah. The EU-Arab summit is likely to address a number of regionalissues and common challenges affecting the Arab and European regions such asthe situation in Libya, the Syrian crisis, the peace process, combating terrorismand illegal immigration, as well as ways to enhance cooperation between the twosides in various fields. Observers see the importance of establishing the firstEU-Arab summit bases of institutional and permanent cooperation between the twosides in the framework of a strong partnership that meets theaspirations and interests of both sides to promotepeace, security andprosperity in the two regions.
New horizon
The meeting ofEuropean and Arab leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh is historic in all sense of theword. The summit between the 28-member European Union and the 22-member Leagueof Arab States (LAS) will bring together for the first time ever heads of stateor government from both sides. Mogherini lamented in a recent press conferencein Brussels that "with the League of Arab states we never had a summitbefore and this is the paradox of our region."
"This is ourclosest partner in terms of regional dimension, in terms of geography, historyand cultures," she said and noted that the EU holds regular summit withAsia, African Union, Latin America, China and the US , but "we never had asummit with the Arab world." A senior EU official told journalists inBrussels Friday that leaders from both sides will seek to strengthen Arab-Europeanties. They will address a wide range of issues and common challenges, such asmultilateralism, trade and investment, migration, security, the situation inthe region including Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Libya.
The official,speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 24 EU leaders out of 28 will bepresent at the Sharm El-Sheikh a clear indication of the high importance andvalue that Europe is attaching to the two-day meeting. Tusk will represent theEU along with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Mogheriniand the EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and EnlargementJohannes Hahn will also attend the summit.
A common past,geographical proximity and interdependence have contributed to strengthencooperation between the EU and the Arab world. Working together will alsofurther enhance the multilateral, rules based global order, said the official."The key word is engagement and this summit is not against anybody,"clarified the official. "We do not see eye-to-eye on all issues as we seereality in different terms. But we agree that there can be no militarysolutions (to the regional crises)," said the EU official.
The two sides areworking on the text for the final statement expected to be released by thesummit. Foreign ministers from the EU and the LAS held a meeting in Brussels onFebruary 4, 2019 to prepare for the summit. "Whatever happens in the Arabworld affects Europeans and whatever happens in Europe affects the Arab world.We have the responsibility of joining forces to find common solutions to commonchallenges," Mogherini told reporters after that meeting. - KUNA