In a first meeting of its kind, European Union (EU) heads of state and government met leaders from across the Gulf in Brussels on Wednesday. The two ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine took up large parts of the agenda.

The EU is seeking to work more closely with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in a bid to address the two ongoing wars.

"In Europe and the Gulf, we share a genuine wish to work much more together and to build bridges," European Council President  Charles Michel said.
Despite the fact that issues like trade, energy and climate change were all on the agenda, Israel's wars against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas militants in Gaza were set to dominate.

"We are partners with aligned interests," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told journalists, adding he hoped the discussions would help bring about a cease-fire in the Middle East.

"Peace will normally come when reasonable people sit around the table, and we know that many of the Gulf countries have been facilitators in that, and I would hope that we continue to join forces."

When it comes to the ongoing Russian invasion into Ukraine, the two groups have struggled to find a unified position, with several GCC nations having better contacts with Russia compared to EU states.

Human rights issues were also expected to be part of the agenda, officials said, with Saudi Arabia's participation drawing criticism given the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Wars have 'fundamentally undermined' security

In her opening remarks, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said both the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have "fundamentally undermined regional security in Europe and the Gulf."

She added that efforts by Europe and the Gulf states needed to focus on preventing what she called an "extremely dangerous escalation," also mentioning Iran's rocket attacks on Israel, as well as the Houthi attacks against commercial vessels off the coast of Yemen.

Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, voiced similar views, saying a "settlement" needs to be found for the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

"We hope that this first summit will be the first step to consolidate our historic ties between the GCC and the EU," he said.

ftm/nm (AP, AFP)