Mogherini: EU-Arab summit will boost partnership

BRUSSELS, Jan 21 (KUNA) -- The first ever European Union and Arab League summit planned to take place In Egypt on 24-25 February will lead to strengthening bilateral cooperation between Europe and the Arab world, to deal with global challenges, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said Monday.
"The outcome I would envisage is that of a strong partnership in handling some of the issues that are on top of our agenda across the region like terrorism, migration, economic investments," she told a press conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today.
She lamented that "with the League of Arab states we never had a summit before and this is the paradox of our region. This is our closest partner in terms of regional dimension, in terms of geography, history and cultures." Mogherini noted that the EU holds regular summit with Asia, African Union, Latin America, China and the US, repeating that "we never had a summit with the Arab world." She said the EU has been preparing for years for the summit with the Arab world to happen.
Mogherini said, on counter terrorism, the EU and the Arab League share the same interests and concerns and can share common approaches.
Migration is also top priority in Europe and the Arab world that can only be addressed together in partnership, said the EU foreign policy chief.
She cited the example of cooperation between EU and Arab world on the situation of the Palestinian people and the crisis of the Underfunding of UNRWA.
"Further cooperation, strengthened cooperation can definitely be one of the outcomes of the summit," she underlined.
"On geopolitical issues we need to work together from Libya to Syria. I expect the summit will provide us with good basis for strengthening our common work," she added.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers today discussed preparation for a ministerial meeting with the Arab League on 4 February which will prepare for the EU-Arab summit. (end) nk.bs