The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dirdeiry, as President of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League, and the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, underlined on Monday 4 February in Brussels, the cooperation between the EU and the Arab League.
“We agree that there is common ground on 90-95% of the issues”, Ms. Mogherini summarized to the media at the end of the meeting. She cited common positions on several regional crises: the need for a political solution in Syria, a two-state solution in the Middle East, with Jerusalem as the capital of these two states, or the joint efforts undertaken for a solution in Libya and Yemen.
Beyond the crises, “there is an opportunity to strengthen our relations on the economy, trade, investment, opportunities for young people, education. We are already working on them, but we can strengthen them”, the High Representative explained.
“There is a high degree of consensus on a wide range of issues, not just political”, added the Secretary-General of the Arab League, citing the issue of financing UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
For his part, the Belgian Minister, Didier Reynders, considered that the meeting had been “a good start to stronger collaboration between the EU and the Arab League".
However, despite all these commonalities, divisions between organisations, but also within organisations themselves, have prevented the adoption of an originally planned joint EU-Arab League declaration. On the European side, the stumbling block was migration. While several Member States wanted a reference to the UN process, Hungary opposed it, according to a European source.
“There have been more complications on the EU side than on the Arab League side”, said Aboul Gheit, contradicted by Mogherini, who said she would have said the opposite.
However, the latter wanted to offer reassurance. “There is a broad convergence of views [...] Even if it is not on paper, I believe there is a common heritage that we bring with us, not only for the preparation of the summit, but on the mutual work to be done together,” she said.
Only 10 foreign ministers from member states attended the meeting, compared to 15 for the Arab League, according to Aboul Gheit.
Moreover, while for Europeans the time has not come to normalise relations with Syria, the Secretary General of the Arab League has made it clear that Syria's return to the organisation depends on all member states and that some still have reservations. “Once the decision has been taken by the Foreign Ministers, we will invite the Syrian State to take its seat”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)