... and the Gulf. The EU has a specific relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), they have been working on a free trade agreement for some 18 years and it is still... ... are very close to Europe. In terms of the trend, Europe is increasingly engaging with Saudi Arabia in terms of security, in an assortment of economic projects, religious... ... facility in Bahrain. Bahrain is also the most tolerant and open country in the region. Kuwait is another example of quite close partnership with the EU and the new delegation...
Despite differences over Syria and the Iranian nuclear deal, contemporary GCC-Russian relations are arguably at an apex, both in terms of shared interests and mutual understanding
Russian and GCC commentators ... ... against the backdrop of the West’s colonial policies, which were characterized by dividing and plundering the Arab states. Saudi Arabia appreciates that in those difficult initial years, Moscow provided Riyadh with critical oil products, bizarre as ...
... of direct and indirect interaction. The two states which have invested the highest political and economic capital have been Saudi Arabia and Qatar
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; providing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and helping fund the various moderate rebel forces in their fight against the Syrian government.
The other four GCC states have so far played more of a mediating and charitable role in helping the Syrians who have felt the brunt of this brutal conflict. Kuwait for example is currently the world’s third largest donor after the EU and US
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, with a pledge to give over 500 ...