Mogherini discusses bilateral relations and regional crises with Saudi Foreign Minister

On the eve of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Ministerial on July 19, High Representative Federica Mogherini i held intensive talks in Jeddah with Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, on bilateral EU-Saudi relations as well as possible responses to the difficult situation in the region.

"The relation between the European Union and Saudi Arabia is strong and deep in many different fields and we focused particularly on issues related to visa but also economic differentiation and economic and trade relations, in particular the opportunities that Vision 2030 offers for our bilateral cooperation in a series of technical fields," Mogherini told the press after the meeting on Monday evening.

"We also discussed issues of human rights - as we always do - and the possibility of deepening our counter-terrorism coordination and working together on anti-radicalisation. You know very well that in Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, we are facing some challenges in that respect. They are common challenges that we share, so this could be a field of common work for the future we agreed to explore."

Mogherini said that the upcoming EU-GCC Ministerial in Brussels will be a perfect opportunity to deepen regional cooperation between the two sides through the GCC, but also to explore potential solutions to ongoing crises in many countries in the region.

"For us it is key to work together on Syria where we share the work of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). We hope that the cessation of hostilities can be respected at full, that humanitarian aid can have full access to the whole territory and that political talks can resume in Geneva hopefully soon to lead to a transition in Damascus that could bring peace to the country and security to the area."

"We also shared an interest in defining a political solution for the crisis in Yemen", Mogherini said. The EU is seeking "together with the Gulf countries and the rest of the international community to find a way of putting an end to this terrible humanitarian situation. We are together starting to look at possibilities obviously for post-conflict and reconstruction of the country."

Libya was also on the agenda. "This is for Europe a particularly challenging issue but also a country that is close to our heart. As we see on a daily basis the victims dying in the Mediterranean out of a territory that has been and is too much out of any kind of control. The European Union is doing all that it can to save lives but also to dismantle the networks of traffickers of human beings. Our first duty is to guarantee human security but also security of the country and of the region. This is something we are currently doing with the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli under the leadership of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj whom I met just recently and who has started to work with us. We are providing him all the support we can."

Finally, Mogherini underlined the need for strong cooperation with Saudi Arabia in trying to get the Middle East Peace Process moving in the right direction, both through the Arab Peace Initiative and ongoing work in the Quartet.

Earlier on Monday, Mogherini met the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, with whom she discussed the scope for mutually beneficial cooperation on issues with a regional dimension.