The European Union Monday lauded the meeting between GCC Secretary General Jassem Al-Budaiwi, with EU High Representative Josep Borrell in Brussels last Friday as a commitment to deepen relations between the two regional blocs.

"This meeting is to be seen in the context of EU's commitment to develop and deepen the already good relations between the EU and the GCC exactly in line with the strategic cooperation with the Gulf, and GCC as an organisation," EU lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, Peter Stano, told a news conference today.

"The meeting was really about how to take the strategy forward, the next step, what we can do together more in terms of concrete implementation," he said in reply to a question by KUNA.

"So this was a very good meeting between the Secretary General and the High Representative, proving the commitment and attachment of both sides to deliver on this jointly defined ambition of deepening our relationship," he stressed. There will be more meetings of course, added Stano.

On his part, Al-Budaiwi told KUNA in an exclusive interview in Brussels on Friday that the meeting with Mr. Borrell was very important and comprehensive. "We discussed issues that are related to GCC and EU and other issues related to regional files.

"Mr. Borrell is a great friend to the region and we expressed our appreciation to the efforts that the EU has been taking towards the GCC region," said chief of the GCC, which includes Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Budaiwi expressed appreciation for the adoption by the EU in May 2022 of the 'Communication on Strategic Partnership with the Gulf,' as well the recent appointment of EU special representative for the Gulf, former Italian foreign minister Luigi de Maio.

Al-Budaiwi participated in the 7th Brussels conference on Syria held last Thursday.

Source: Kuwait News Agency