Brussels, 24 June 2022
The first Senior Officials Meeting between the European Union and the Kingdom of Bahrain was held in Brussels on 23 June. It was co-chaired by Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora and H.E. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting launched the implementation of the Cooperation Arrangement between the EEAS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain signed on 10 February last year during the visit of the Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani to Brussels. The Cooperation Arrangement provides a framework to foster cooperation and consultations on issues of common interest.
Yesterday’s high-level political consultations focused on EU-Bahrain bilateral relations, recent developments in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, as well as Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine and the resulting global humanitarian, energy, food and economic crises. The two sides notably exchanged views on Iran/JCPOA, the Middle East Peace Process in the context of the normalisation of relations between Israel and Bahrain, as well as on the situation in Syria.
The implementation of the recently adopted EU Joint Communication on a strategic Partnership with the Gulf featured prominently in the discussions.
In addition to political consultations, the two sides held technical discussions on trade, economy, the green transition and climate, global health, education, research, innovation and space cooperation, security and counter-terrorism. The issue of the Schengen visa waiver for Bahrain was also discussed.
The two sides agreed that the second Senior Officials’ Meeting will be held in Manama, Bahrain, next year.
Source – EEAS