EU, seeking far-flung friends, holds first summit with Gulf states

The European Union holds its first summit with the Gulf states on Wednesday, part of an EU diplomatic push for far-flung friends as it enlists international support to isolate Russia.

Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the 27-member EU has reached out to other regional blocs, holding its first summit with ASEAN countries and its first for eight years with the CELAC community of Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Its aim in meeting the six wealthy Arab states in the Gulf Cooperation Council is to make the relationship more strategic, recognising those countries' influence particularly in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

"The Gulf region is at the crossroads between Asia, Europe and Africa. It plays a very important role in many of the crisis of today," a senior EU official said.

An EU partnership with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would cover trade and investment, renewable energy, regional security and citizen issues such as visas.

Though Brussels wants the GCC partners to agree strong language on Russia's military assault on Ukraine, it is not expecting them to fully adopt its position in blaming Moscow. The two blocs are arguably closer on the Middle East, where the EU is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and broader de-escalation.

Talks on an EU-GCC free trade agreement, which began 35 years ago, have been suspended since 2008, with disagreement over the openness of public tenders and on oil products. However, EU officials said there were other avenues for trade and investment cooperation.

The UAE has also quietly urged the EU to start talks on a separate trade pact with it, Reuters reported in March.

One request from the Gulf side is visa liberalisation. Currently, no EU visas are required for short stays for UAE citizens, while those of other Gulf nations need to secure a visa valid for five years.