(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) KUWAIT, Oct 6 (KUNA) -- The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) stressed Monday the deep strategic partnership and commitment to developing bilateral cooperation in various domains among regional and international transformations that require joint coordination and understanding.
This came in the final communique adopted following the 29th GCC-EU meeting, held in the State of Kuwait.
It affirmed that the GCC-EU partnership is based on the 1988 cooperation agreement, which marks the pillar of global peace, security and prosperity, commending the outcomes of the first summit that was held in Brussels in 2014.
The forthcoming GCC-EU gathering will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2026.
The statement hailed Kuwait for hosting the second GCC-EU security and regional cooperation ministerial meeting as a platform for sharing views on issues of peace and defense, counterterror, maritime security, cypersecurity and disarmament.
Economically, the statement reiterated both sides' commitment to promoting trade and investment relations, resuming free trade agreement negotiations, expanding supply chains and supporting digital commerce and green economy.
In this regard, it touted the outcomes of the Eighth GCC-EU Business Forum in Doha and preparations for the Ninth GCC-EU Business Forum in Kuwait in November 2025, calling for continuing the Macroeconomic Dialogue in December 2025.
In energy and climate, it underlined the significance of cooperation in clean energy, hydrogen, carbon trapping, green transition technology, while lauding the Green Transition Forum in Riyadh and the Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi.
It also hailed the signing of a MoU for administrative arrangements between the Gulf Emergency Management Center and the EU for civil protection as well as the radioactive data exchange platform (GCC-RDEP) as an advanced crisis-management tool.
Furthermore, the final communique stressed the significance of sharing expertise in the fields of education, research and innovation and establishing a regional liaison agency to back youth projects and startups, and welcomed the youth leaders' program for regional diplomacy, launched in Kuwait and attended by GCC and EU diplomats.
The statement condemned the recent Israeli occupation attack on Qatar and supported its sovereignty and territorial integrity, while supporting the two-state solution on the June 4, 1967 border.
Lauding the ongoing mediation efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the US, it called on the Israeli occupation to release the Palestinian Authority's revenues and appreciated the EU's 1.6-billion aid to the authority.
Regarding Ukraine, it reaffirmed support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, but voiced concern over the violations of the European airspace.
In addition, the statement underlined the importance of Iraq's commitment to Kuwait's sovereignty and respect of integrational demarcation agreements as per relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, mainly Resolution 833.
It called for completing the demarcation of borders beyond frontier marker 162, and commended UNSC Resolution 2792 naming a high-level representative to follow up on the files of missing Kuwaitis and national archives.
It concluded by stressing the significance of continuing joint consultation and coordination and holding the 30th ministerial meeting in Brussels in 2026, voicing appreciation to the State of Kuwait for its successful hosting of GCC-EU meetings. (pickup previous)
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