Christodoulides stresses Arab League’s ‘important role’ in bolstering EU-Middle East ties

President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday highlighted the “important role” the Arab League has to play in the strengthening of relations between the European Union and states in the Middle East, during a meeting with the Arab League’s secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Gheit had travelled to Cyprus to attend Wednesday’s opening ceremony of Cyprus’ six-month term as the holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, and on this point, Christodoulides said that “one of our three main priorities is to bring the EU much closer to the region”.

“The Arab League must and can play a very important role in this effort,” he said.

He also made reference to a planned informal meeting of leaders of EU member states and neighbouring countries which is set to take place in April, saying that at that meeting, “we will see this in a tangible way and with specific projects”.

Later, he said that Thursday’s visit of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon had come at his suggestion, and that last October’s EU-Egypt summit in Brussels had also come at his own behest.

That summit, he said, had been “something we had been promoting since 2014”.

He then spoke briefly about Thursday’s EU-Jordan summit in Amman and the fact that “we are working to start discussions on a strategic and comprehensive agreement with Lebanon”, describing Lebanon as “another important country in the region”.

“Through our discussions today, we will see what else we can do during our presidency and beyond to strengthen the EU’s relations with the region. We have common challenges, but also great prospects if we work together,” he said.

Thursday’s summit in Amman will see Costa and von der Leyen meet Jordanian King Abdullah II, with Costa saying that Jordan is “a strategic partner for the European Union” and that the country “plays a pivotal role in the Middle East”.

“The EU deeply values Jordan’s leadership and its generosity in sheltering Syrian refugees for over a decade. Our first bilateral summit will provide a great opportunity to strengthen our partnership and tackle shared challenges in these turbulent times,” he said.