RIYADH: Kuwait’s Assistant Foreign Minister for GCC Affairs Ambassador Najib Al-Bader said that the forthcoming GCC-European Summit, due in Brussels, would cap the bilateral strategic relations. The unprecedented upcoming summit will be a historic turning point in Gulf-European relations as it will depict the two sides’ adherence to establish a full-fledged partnership on the basis of mutual respect and confidence, said Ambassador Al-Bader in a statement to KUNA as he emerged from the 32nd meeting of the GCC-European Cooperation Committee’s meeting.

He revealed that the commission’s meeting addressed preparations for the summit, due in October 2024. The distinctive ties between the GCC and the EU are not merely conventional relations; as they rise to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, designed to establish a common future based on mutual interests and common values, he said, affirming that these relations would continue to grow amid the close cooperation between the two blocs.

A group photo of the Gulf-European Committee's consensus at the Cooperation Council's headquarters in Riyadh.

The GCC-European relations have been substantially developing, he said, adding that the participants in today’s meeting tackled the achievements and the challenges and means of boosting the mutual cooperation further at strategic levels, alluding to the aspiration to broaden the cooperation in the fields of security, economy, commerce, investment, communication, energy, digital transformation, cyber security, education, and scientific research.

Moreover, the meeting addressed regional and international developments that warrant coordination and the bolstering of cooperation for the sake of attaining security and stability in the region. The GCC, founded in the early 80s of the past century, groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. — KUNA