With my visit to Kuwait today, I conclude a series of visits to the Gulf countries. Greece maintains traditional ties with these countries. In particular, today, in Kuwait, I had the opportunity to converse with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and with the state agencies involved in imports and exports, as well as in investments to and from Kuwait.
We jointly recognized the significant potential to increase our bilateral trade. We agreed to undertake actions that will lead to agreements regarding substantial large-scale Kuwaiti investments in Greece and, of course, exchange of business delegations.
During these two days, we primarily had the opportunity to discuss the urgent issue of the Middle East. Unfortunately, the situation is deteriorating. There are huge problems regarding the peace process and, of course, every day there is a serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the region. What we agreed in Qatar and in Kuwait was that Europe, along with the Gulf and Arab countries, should join efforts to develop a concrete proposal that will resolve the Middle East issue, allow unhindered and full humanitarian aid to be delivered to the affected areas, and, finally, resolve the issue of hostages, which is an open wound for humanitarian values.
As I had the opportunity to emphasize at the European Council in Luxembourg, the European Union should undertake a central initiative to bring together all parallel efforts aimed at peace in the region under the High Representative and a number of member states’ Foreign Ministers. This would finally allow us to sit down and constructively resolve the Middle East issue, bring the ongoing humanitarian crisis to a halt, and prevent its spread, whether to Rafah, Lebanon, Jordan, or the Red Sea, with potentially dramatic consequences for humanity.
April 25, 2024