Europeans and Arab League countries are meeting on Sunday 24 and Monday 25 February for their first-ever high-level summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The objective of the summit is to strengthen the ties between the EU, the Arab League and their 49 states.
"We have many common challenges, we need to find common answers [...] We want to create a space for discussion", summarised a European source, noting that the two sides had disagreements on a number of topics, but the important thing was to discuss them.
Thus, the plenary session will focus on "enhancing the Euro-Arab partnership and addressing global challenges together". According to a European source, the summit will cover a wide range of topics, such as economic relations, investment, trade, security and migration. Respect for human rights could also be raised.
A working session will focus on cooperation on regional challenges. Leaders could discuss the situation in Syria, Libya or Yemen and the Middle East peace process. Iran's issue could be raised, "but this is not a summit against anyone", the source said.
On Friday 22 February, the EU-Arab League Joint Declaration, which could be issued at the end of the summit, was still under preparation. While at the end of the EU/Arab League ministerial meeting on 4 February, no declaration had been issued, partly due to a divergence between the Twenty-eight on migration, according to one source, they managed to reach an agreement and the declaration is being negotiated with Egypt, the Arab League presidency for the summit.
As for the participants, on the EU side, only French, Spanish, Latvian and Lithuanian leaders will be absent. According to a European source, the participation of the Arab League side should be equivalent. Although the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed ben Salmane – whose reputation has suffered since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – is to be present, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Darfur war, should not attend the summit, to the great relief of Europeans. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)