Diplomacy

The European Council president, Charles Michel, has began a regional tour of the South Caucasus aimed at re-enforcing the EU's relations with the region. On Saturday, Michel arrived in Armenia where he had a meeting with prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and afterwards addressed a press conference. Michel told journalists that the EU has the ambition to have a loyal, engaged and active relationship with the region that would contribute for its stability, prosperity and security.

Speaking at the start of one of the largest international events to take place in the Uzbek capital for decades, the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, spoke of the need for the revival of mutual ties in Central and South Asia, where about two billion people live today. Regional and world leaders are attending the International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities”, including high level officials from the EU and the US, the President of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the foreign ministers of the Central and South Asian countries, and delegations from 44 countries and about 30 international organisations.

Lebanon's prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, has excused himself from forming a government after a nine-month deadlock. The international community, including the United Nations, expressed its disappointment as the country plunges deeper into crisis.  

The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, held meetings with several European officials in Brussels in the last days as part of an effort to explain Egypt's position on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Shoukry affirmed the importance of outlining a roadmap to reach a binding agreement on the operation of the dam.

The Turkish president, Recip Tayip Erdogan, on Monday (July 12)  spoke on the phone with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and discussed relations between the two countries as well as regional issues. This was the first high-level contact between Turkey and Israel in years. Relations between the two countries have been strained as a result of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians and Israel's perception of Turkish support for radical Palestinian groups.

The visit is being hailed as a milestone visit in the two neighbouring countries. The two countries have often had disputes on a range of issues. However, in recent months there has been a growing rapprochement between Riyadh and Muscat as high-level officials of the two countries have exchanged visits and conducted extensive consultations on a number of political and economic issues of common interest. A number of trade deals are expected to be signed.

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.

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.