The first Europe-Gulf Forum scheduled for May is expected to include Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, it was reported on Thursday.
“Heads of state and government, senior policymakers and business leaders will gather from May 15 to May 17 for the first-ever Europe-Gulf Forum,” newsletter Brussels Playbook said.
Also scheduled to attend are IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and Gulf Co-operation Council Secretary General Jasem Al Budaiwi.
The forum comes on the heels of the launch of the Alliance for Europe-Gulf Geopolitics and Investments Summit in September at the 80th UN General Assembly in New York by US think tank the Atlantic Council and Greek media company the Antenna Group.
The summit aims to “complement and inform the ongoing EU-Gulf Co-operation Council summit process, including the upcoming 2026 summit in Riyadh”, said a statement before the launch.
The first EU-GCC summit took place in Brussels in October 2024. It was the first since the signing of the initial EU-GCC co-operation agreement in 1989. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was present for his first participation at an EU summit in Brussels.
Leaders pledged to increase economic co-operation, boost connections through hydrogen exports and data cables, and step up development aid. The EU is the GCC's second-biggest trading partner.
They also issued common statements on geopolitical crises such as Ukraine and the Gaza war. The EU views the Gulf region as an important broker in today's crises in part thanks to its geographic location between Asia, Europe and Africa. Warring parties Russia and Ukraine recently exchanged 314 prisoners at US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.
The Brussels leaders' summit was followed by a ministerial meeting in Kuwait in October.
A key demand from a number of Gulf countries including Qatar and Saudi Arabia is to obtain visa waivers for their citizens wishing to travel to the EU. The UAE has a reciprocal visa-free system with the EU.
