The leaders of the European Union and six Gulf nations met for an inaugural summit on Wednesday against a backdrop of turmoil in the Middle East and struggles to find a unified position on the war in Ukraine and relations with Russia.
The summit was expected to last just a few hours and encompass topics ranging from visas and trade to the situation in the Middle East. It was unlikely to yield more than general commitments to improve cooperation.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the summit was "long overdue" and that "the economic ties between the European Union and the Gulf countries need to be strengthened."
"They are there, but they have the potential to be developed much, much further," he said.
Officials said the EU would also raise human rights issues with their visitors, which include Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The United States, United Nations and others have alleged that aides of Mohammed and other Saudi officials killed U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose columns for The Washington Post were critical of the crown prince.
"Our outrage and revulsion at this horrific violation of human rights cannot be set aside for the sake of quick deals with dictators. EU leaders must confront brutal authoritarianism wherever it exists," EU Greens legislator Daniel Freund said.
The 27-nation EU has long had relations with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council of Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.
The nations of the European Union already find it challenging to find full alignment on Israel's wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, and it will be difficult to find a strong common statement with GCC leaders, officials familiar with the meeting said.
EU members are also in disagreement regarding relations with Russia and Ukraine, with nations such as Hungary and Slovakia holding vastly different views on Moscow's actions than much of the other EU states. At the same time, several GCC nations have much better contact with Moscow compared to EU members.
