EU signs deal with Qatar to open diplomatic mission in Doha

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Union on Monday said it will open its diplomatic mission in Doha.

Stefano Sannino, the secretary-general of the European External Action Service, and Qatari State Minister for Foreign Affairs Soltan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi signed an agreement in Brussels to establish a new EU Delegation to Qatar, the EU diplomatic service said in a statement.

The opening of an EU delegation is “the latest milestone in the partnership between the EU and Qatar” and it “will help the EU further strengthen the very solid bilateral cooperation with Qatar,” the statement added.

The number of EU delegations and offices worldwide will reach 145.

It will function as a “fully-fledged diplomatic mission, responsible for the EU’s political and economic relations with Qatar,” the announcement explained.

According to the EU, the relations between the bloc and Qatar “have been strengthening steadily over recent years”, citing the Human Rights Dialogue launched in 2018 and the Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement that Qatar signed with the EU in 2021.

The statement also called Qatar’s assistance to repatriate EU nationals at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the support to evacuate EU citizens as “telling examples of the nature of the partnership between the EU and Qatar.”

On the margins of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU top diplomats met their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to discuss trade, regional and global security, as well as green and digital transition.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council which was set up in 1981 as a regional consultative organization.