The EU and Bahrain have officially launched negotiations for an EU-Bahrain Strategic Partnership Agreement.
The talks were launched by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas, Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica, and Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, according to the EU statement issued on Monday.
The negotiations build on a 2022 EU Joint Communication that set out the EU’s approach to deeper ties with the Gulf, and on a joint agenda agreed by Gulf and European leaders at the 2024 EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Brussels.
What is a Strategic Partnership Agreement?
Kallas said the planned agreement would be a new framework for the EU and Bahrain to work “much closer in areas of shared interest”, including “common security, stability and trade.”
Šuica said the agreement would deepen cooperation “across a wide range of areas”, including economic cooperation, “resilience” and innovation.
A Strategic Partnership Agreement is a formal framework for cooperation between the EU and another country, setting out areas where they plan to work together, the EU indicated in its statement.
