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The European Union's envoy to Saudi Arabia has expressed the bloc's understanding of the concerns shared by the Gulf States regarding Iranian activity in the region. Patrick Simonnet, the EU Head of Delegation to Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia was speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Simonnet clarified that the situation today differs from what it was back in 2015 and   many issues needed to be resolved.

In Russia, and in the former Soviet states of Central Asia, there is growing concern about the situation in Afghanistan. Russian media has been urging the authorities to prepare for a Taliban takeover after the US and NATO complete their withdrawal from the country, now scheduled for 31 August, speculating that this will trigger a full-scale power shift in the country within several months.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry headed to Brussels on Saturday (10 July) to hold talks with officials from the European Union on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis. Last week Egypt and Sudan raised the issue at the UN Security Council who in turn entrusted the African Union to resume negotiations between the two countries and Ethiopia. 

The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday (7 July). This was the third face-to face meeting of the two leaders in six months. The two men also speak on the phone often. “Putin’s peace” between Armenia and Azerbaijan has so far held, yet the Kremlin must be under no illusion that it will be plain sailing going forward. There is still a lot of work to be done before Armenia and Azerbaijan commence the journey for peace and reconciliation, and the Russian’s may even have their own reasons for not wanting that process to move too swiftly. The alternative is tight management of the current arrangements, and that may mean many more Putin-Pashinyan meetings to come.

The 74th Cannes International Film Festival opened yesterday (06 July) after being cancelled last year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The festival, held in Cannes, France, previews films of all genres, including documentation from all over the world.  This year the festival had a remarkable Arab presence despite the pandemic both at the level of films participating in the official competition or at the level of competition juries.