Euronews sat with former VP of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas and the EU's Envoy for the Gulf Luigi Di Maio in the Qatari capital to discuss the war in Ukraine, EU competitiveness and cultivating new ties in the Gulf. The two were attending the Doha Forum.
Euronews caught up with two European Union policy figures who were in attendance at the Doha Forum on Sunday, former European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas and current EU Special Representative for the Gulf Region, Luigi Di Maio.
The forum aimed to raise to the global forefront many issues, including world peace with Russia’s war on Ukraine continuing to rage and nearing its fifth year, and directly addressed Israeli violations of the existing ceasefire in Gaza.
Schinas expressed hope that the renewed push for peace in Ukraine, led by US President Donald Trump, may finally bring an end to the fighting and end a war that has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian and cost European countries billions of euros in support.
“From day one. We have been funding Ukraine with €2 billion per month. So in a way, Ukraine keeps fighting because Europe keeps paying,” Schinas told Euronews.
“We have bought armaments for Ukraine. We have stood by the country in very difficult, diplomatic moments and will continue to do that.”
“We hope that as a result of the ongoing talks and with the increasing involvement of the US government, we will be able soon to come to an agreement, but if this moment comes, this would be only the beginning of the next stage.” he added.
Schinas also spoke of the inaccuracies in the Trump administration's critiques of Europe. A controversial US National Security Strategy report published on Friday claimed that Europe is heading for “civilisational erasure” as a result of censorship and supranational policies, while the bloc's immigration policies have enabled migrants to "replace" Europeans.
In the document Washington said will support “like-minded patriotic parties” across Europe to “cultivate resistance”, in a bid to prevent “certain NATO members” - who were not named - from becoming majority non-European and thus alienating parties that advance immigration.
“I think that those who doubt of the value and the attractiveness of the European project would live to regret it. History tells us otherwise,” said Schinas.
Nevertheless, he stressed the importance of the EU's alliance with the US: “The transatlantic relationship is too precious to be put in risk. So we will explain, we will engage, we will make sure that we do the right things.”
Euronews also asked both Schinas and Di Maio about the bloc’s plans to remain competitive and create new partnerships to advance economic prospects and interests. One such emerging partnership that appears to be of interest to Brussels is with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
“I think that the more we will realise that we have to continue to work with our historical allies, but we have to create new partnerships,” said Di Maio.
“Together, the GCC market and the European market, represent almost 20% of the global economy, almost 18% of the global trade. So we have huge potential,” he added.
His view was also echoed by Schinas, who noted that in the current turbulent global political climate, it is important that the EU seeks stability and security, an area GCC countries have proven they can advance in.
“As the world is becoming crazier and crazier every time we need actors that can provide security and stability, not consume. And I think the countries in the region have showed that they can make a positive contribution to this, and Europe is grateful,” said Schinas.
Di Maio hailed the new partnership struck between the EU and Qatar last month to boost production and trade relations, adding that it was only the beginning in ties that will only become deeper over time.
“This is an agreement, is not, let's say, not only an MOU, it's something serious, is linked to the fact that we are going to frame and to shape a new kind of partnership of many kind of sectors, on many legs.”
The EU Special Representative for the GCC added that a promising area of future partnership between the region and the bloc could be in the hydrogen sector.
“I will mention probably the most promising one, that is hydrogen. Many countries in the GCC are investing in hydrogen, are developing technologies, are partnering at B2B (business to business) level and at G2G (government to government) level,” he said.
“I am just coming back from Oman for the hydrogen summit. Many ports in Europe and companies in Europe are dealing with Oman. The same with Saudi Arabia, the same with many other countries of the GCC."