(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Irfan Bukhari |
The Peninsula
To strengthen Qatar-EU ties further, President of European Council H E Charles Michel inaugurated the office of the Delegation of the European Union to the State of Qatar yesterday.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, Ambassador of Qatar to the European Union H E Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Malki and Ambassador-designate of the European Union to Qatar H E Dr. Cristian Tudor were also present at the ceremony.
Addressing the event, Charles Michel expressed his pleasure in participating in the inauguration of the European delegation in Doha.“My visit here in Qatar is an important signal of our political will to strengthen ties with Qatar. There is a political will to improve the very good relationship with Qatar and to upgrade the level of our common ambitions.”
He added:“We are facing global challenges, the energy sector, economic development, security challenges across the world. We are absolutely convinced that the friendship with Qatar is an important leverage to overcome those extremely difficult challenges together.”
“I will have the opportunity today to have some political discussions with His Highness and also with the political authorities of Qatar, and I am extremely confident that we are making progress on important topics of common interest. For instance, we are making progress on the visa waiver, and I am confident that in the following weeks we will be able to take some strong decisions on that question.” He said dialogue, the mutual understanding, and mutual respect will be key, in order for both, Qatar and the EU, to have a better understanding of some security challenges, especially in the region.
“We have a common ambition to make efforts for more stability, for more security, for more prosperity. That is why this cooperation is extremely important. Again, I want to thank the Qatari authorities for their hospitality and for the good cooperation.”
Talking to The Peninsula, Ambassador of Qatar to the EU H E Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Malki said that the opening of EU mission in Qatar would definitely add value to bilateral relations.
“More projects are in the pipeline … we are working on them. At the end of this month we will have Qatar-EU political consultations in Qatar to be chaired by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi.”
He said that the meeting will be another milestone achieved in bilateral ties.
“The meeting will cover all political topics between Qatar and the European Union. We are building bridges on many aspects.”
He said that there will be soft opening of Qatar's embassy/mission at EU in October this year.
Talking about visa waiver for Qatari citizens to EU states, he said that it had been approved by European Commission and voted by the European Council where all 27 states voted in favour of Qatar.
“The third step is its passage from the European Parliament. I am working hard on it and hope that it will be done as soon as possible,” he added.
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