Foreign Ministry, European Union External Action Service hold first senior officials’ meeting

Brussels, June 23 (BNA): The first meeting of senior officials between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union’s External Action Service was held here. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, and the Director General of Middle East and North Africa Affairs, Fernando Gentilini, co-chaired the meeting, attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Belgium, Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al-Dosari, and a number of officials. During the meeting, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla affirmed the keenness of the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the government, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to strengthen the bonds of cooperation and strategic partnership with the European Union with all its organs and institutions, in order to achieve common interests in promoting security, peace and sustainable development. Both sides reviewed prospects for cooperation and exchange of experiences in the fields of education, innovation, health, trade and investment, renewable energy, support for green and digital transformation, combating climate change. They also discussed the technical procedures used to exempt Bahraini citizens from pre-visa requirements (Schengen) when visiting the European Union countries. They also discussed ways to strengthen the political partnership and the consolidation of regional and global security and peace, and other fields in order to activate the cooperation mechanism signed between both sides in Brussels on February 10, 2021, the Gulf-European Cooperation Framework Agreement of 1988, and the Gulf-European Strategic Partnership Document for this year. For his part, Fernando Gentilini, stressed the keenness to strengthen cooperation and political and economic partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to coordinate political and security positions on regional and international issues of common concern, wishing the Kingdom further progress and prosperity.