(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) KUWAIT, July 5 (KUNA) -- European Union Ambassador to the State of Kuwait Christian Tudor has affirmed that the EU considers Kuwait as a partner of mounting significance noting that the European states aspire to establish close and full scale cooperation with the country.
Tudor, in a statement on Sunday coinciding with the first anniversary of establishing the mission and ahead of the forthcoming second meeting for senior officials from the two sides, said the State of Kuwait has played a key role in bolstering cooperation between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council as part of the EU-GCC cooperation treaty, inked in 1988.
"Our bilateral relations were significantly boosted recently when the State of Kuwait became the first Gulf country to sign the cooperation treaty with the European External Action Service (EEAS) department in July 2016," Tudor said.
This treaty constitutes a platform for regular political consultations covering common challenges in the Middle East and bilateral relations, Tudor said.
The second meeting for senior officials from Kuwait and the union would be held on July 16, he affirmed, noting that the meeting would address cooperation under the common leadership, namely the Assistant Kuwaiti Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ambassador Walid Al-Khubaizi, and the EU Director General for the Middle East and North Africa, Fernando Gentilini.
Relations between the two sides have not been confined to official engagements and they have been bolstered through exchanges at individuals' level, via dialogue among companies, education, cultural diplomacy and parliamentary engagement.
He praised the Kuwaiti National Assembly for hosting a European parliamentary delegation in December 2018, anticipating an identical mission on part of the Kuwaiti lawmakers to Brussels "when conditions allow so." Full resumption of regular contacts between the two sides hinges "on our ability to contain the COVID-19 in the European Union and the State of Kuwait," he said.
Ambassador Tudor, shedding some light on the EU decision to bar citizens from several countries from entering the EU countries, noted that there was recommendation in this respect covering 14 states, whose citizens will be allowed to enter the EU countries for "unnecessary" purposes.
These states have been placed under a category based on key health standards; such as current and new coronavirus infection rates, during the past 14 days, or states that have less infection proportions.
The second criterion, during the first phase of reopening borders of the EU states, stipulates equal treatment, meaning that concerned states allow EU citizens enter for unncessary purposes.
"Neither Kuwait nor the other GCC countries have been included in the first category; it is rather important to take into consideration that the list will be revised every two weeks," Tudor added.
The revision will be based on the pandemic status, presented data from the European Center for Disease Prevenetion and the World Health Organization, in addition to information from the EU missions, then the list is updated accordingly.
He expressed eagerness to re-enlisting Kuwait "once the public health criterion are met." The EU mission in Kuwait was inaugurated on July 14, 2019. (end) ek.tib.rk
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