The U.K conducted its last evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday, as the U.S. and France also brought groups of foreign nationals out of the conflict-torn African country.
The moves come amid a deteriorating security situation in Sudan, as fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The British government decided to end evacuation flights “because of a decline in demand by British nationals, and because the situation on ground continues to remain volatile,” the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement.
“Focus will now turn to providing consular support to British nationals in Port Sudan and in neighboring countries in the region,” it said, noting that more than 1,888 people were evacuated on 21 flights during the operation.
A French plane arrived in Chad on Friday carrying staff from the United Nations and international humanitarian non-profit organizations. France has evacuated over a thousand people from Sudan since the outbreak of hostilities.
The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that a convoy of U.S. citizens, locally-employed staff and citizens of partner countries arrived in Port Sudan and that it is assisting those eligible to travel onward to Saudi Arabia.
“Intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners enabled the security conditions that have allowed the departure of thousands of foreign and U.S. citizens,” the State Department said.
“We continue,” it added, “to call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the fighting that is endangering civilians.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
The manner in which China has brokered a peace deal between arch-foes, Saudi Arabia and Iran, it may help China to emerge as a global peacemaker, eclipsing the USA.
President Xi Jinping with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs) in Riyadh on December 9, 2022
Last week a major diplomatic coup was staged by China, when it announced the results of its successfully mediated efforts, of bringing two old foes to the negotiating table and signing a friendship deal.
The Chinese-brokered Saudi-Iran rapprochement comes as a major diplomatic breakthrough between two regional neighbours after years of mutual animosity, suspected attacks and tales of rivalry between the two countries.
The move also represents Beijing’s first foray into Middle Eastern politics, an area that has always been regarded as a prerogative of the US, since when most of these nations become a free and independent entities, after the end of the colonial era.
On March 10, both Riyadh and Tehran announced that after seven years of severed ties, they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago.
Much of the world was stunned when the two arch-rivals announced they were restoring diplomatic relations, this was not only because of the breakthrough after years of mutual animosity but because of the mediator, who played a key role in bringing the foes to the negotiating table, i.e. the Chinese government.
By this move, China has ostensibly taken up a role that the US could not have fulfilled, or it never tried to perform that role. In addition, this also comes as Beijing’s first major diplomatic foray into the Middle East mediation, an area where often rivalries are built around nuances and subtleties, which are hard to fathom for an outsider, though in recent times they have up the shape of hardnosed economic and strategic interests.
Apparently, the Saudis had been engaged in talks with Iran from around the same time as the Al Ula Summit held in Saudi in 2021, which ended the blockade of Qatar and mended the internal rifts of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In the subsequent two years, the United Arab Emirates restored its diplomatic relations with Iran and even replaced China as Iran’s top import partner; Kuwait, too, has returned its ambassador to Tehran.
The negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2021 largely took place in Iraq and Oman. Other regional countries, including Kuwait and Pakistan, had attempted to arrange for talks between Tehran and Riyadh on numerous occasions in the past seven years, which were largely unsuccessful.
As tensions simmer between the world’s two largest economies: the US and China, US policymakers had sounded an alarm over competition and security concerns with China, but what does Beijing’s ascendance in the region mean for the Middle East – and for the larger US interests?
In recent times, China has been pushing for reconfiguring the regional security architecture in the Persian Gulf since 2020. In a UN Security Council meeting arranged by Russia in October 2020, China presented its proposal for security and stability in the Gulf region, arguing that with a multilateral effort, the region can become “an Oasis of Security.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.
Apparently, the edifice of this Chinese plan to transform into a global peacemaker seems to be the Global Security Initiative – GSI, which was unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2023. It is portrayed as a banner for China to reform the current international security order, especially at a time when the US is prioritising alignment with countries that share the same political system and ideology, through its Democracy Summit.
Mainly, with growing power and influence China has a fair say in international peace and security architecture building. The GSI Concept Paper released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2023 identified “bringing about security changes through political dialogue and peaceful negotiation” as core concepts and principles.
China’s successful brokering of the peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran has given it confidence that this track could work. The aspiration is that China can fill the gap in regions the US has failed to lead or ignore.
According to the Chinese understanding of the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia are “pivot countries” whose political, economic, and military power make them indispensable partners for Beijing, making balance between the two the most consequential strategy.
For both countries, China is the largest trading partner. Beijing has granted Tehran and Riyadh the status of comprehensive strategic partners – the highest in China’s partnership diplomacy in the Middle East.
Asad Mirza
But China’s balancing act is more articulated than just signing similar partnership agreements with both partners. While economic relations are unequivocally unbalanced in Saudi Arabia’s favour, China guarantees Iran political support and a financial lifeline in the face of US pressure. Yet, offering different goods to equal partners often shakes the balancing act. In December, the joint China-GCC communiqué that followed Chinese President Xi Jingpin’s trip to Saudi Arabia generated anger in Iran, exposing the limits of China’s diplomacy from the sidelines.
The GSI Concept Paper also emphasises the need to support political settlements of hotspot issues such as the war in Ukraine. Therefore, President Xi’s efforts to promote a political settlement to the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be essential to watch. If another success is achieved after his Russia visit, it may lend more credence to the GSI.
(Asad Mirza is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. In his career spanning more than 20 years, he was also associated with BBC Urdu Service and Khaleej Times of Dubai. Views are personal.)
SRINAGAR: As expected, the Tehran-Riyadh restoration of ties with Beijing’s help has led triggered a serious debate the world over. With most of the countries supportive of the agreement, a general perception is that the USA, the world’s most powerful nation, has been side-lined by an emerging China.
US President Joe Biden with MbS of Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2022. They barely shook hands.
The most vociferous reaction has come from Israel where senior opposition leaders have termed the agreement Tel Aviv’s failure.
“The restoration of relations between the Saudis and Iran is a serious and dangerous development for Israel that represents an Iranian diplomatic victory. It represents a critical blow to efforts to build a regional coalition against Iran,” Naftali Bennett, Israel’s former Prime Minister was quoted as saying by Times of Israel. “This is a resounding failure of the Netanyahu government and is the result of a combination of diplomatic neglect, general weakness and internal conflict in the country.”
Bennett was not alone. Yair Lapid, also a former Prime Minister also termed the agreement as “a complete failure” for Israel, calling it “a collapse of our regional defensive walls that we had been building against Iran.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia, barely separated by a 150-mile distance were representing two extremes in the Middles East. They were literally rivals in most of the conflict areas in the region. Besides, they were using Shia-Sunni sectarianism as part of their foreign policy in other Muslim countries.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.
Israel, it may be recalled here had normalised relations with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates in 2020. The agreement with Iran came as Tel Aviv was negotiating a relationship with Riyadh. While these efforts are likely to continue, the possibility of kicking Tehran out of the frame may not be possible. Israel sees Tehran as its enemy and dislikes its nuclear programme and Riyadh was almost thinking on the same terms. This had led to a sort of coalition with the Middle East excluding Iran. The agreement is expected to change that.
Israel apart, the response from almost every other power centre has been positive. Some Western countries including USA and France have responded to the development with a bit of caution.
“United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric expressed the gratitude of the United Nations Secretary-General to China for hosting the recent talks, and the United Nations Secretary-General welcomed the efforts of other countries in this regard, especially the Sultanate of Oman and Iraq,” Saudi Press Agency reported. “The UN spokesperson also stated that good neighbourly relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are necessary for the stability of the Gulf region.”
In Brussels, the European Union (EU) has also welcomed the agreement.
“Generally speaking, we welcome any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region. De-escalation and diplomacy together with deterrence are key pillars of the policy President Biden outlined during his visit to the region last year,” US NSA spokesperson John Kirby was quoted as saying. “The Saudis did keep us informed about these talks that they were having, just as we keep them informed on our engagements, but we weren’t directly involved.”
President Xi Jinping with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs) in Riyadh on December 9, 2022
When asked by reporters, Biden said: “Better relations between Israel and their Arab neighbours are better for everybody.”
What is interesting, however, is that the agreement is being seen as a side-lining of the US in the region. A general impression is that the US was selling arms to fuel the conflicts in the region and, instead, China used trade to get the rivals closer.
Major Development: China Brokers Peace Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
The agreement is expected to have a cooling effect on at least three ragging conflicts in the region. In Yemen, Iran was supporting Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabi was funding the exiled government. In Lebanon, Iran was backing Hezbollah and Riyadh money was surviving the Sunni political class. The two countries were the proxy players in Suria where Iran supported President Bashar Assad and Riyadh was closer to the rebels.
Analysts believe t is too early to predict a major shift as the parties will have to work on the agreement. The divisive politics in the region has been played for such a long time that converting it into peace will take a long time. Those unhappy can contribute to making the agreement evaporate.
SRINAGAR: In a Himalayan development that will have huge consequences for regional peace and the Muslim world, arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to revive diplomatic relations after a long hiatus. What is interesting, it was China that played the broker. The two countries will unlock their diplomatic missions within the next 60 days.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.
“The three countries announce that an agreement has been reached between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, that includes an agreement to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months, and the agreement includes their affirmation of the respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-interference in internal affairs of states,” a joint statement issued by the three countries earlier in the day said. “They also agreed that the ministers of foreign affairs of both countries shall meet to implement this, arrange for the return of their ambassadors, and discuss means of enhancing bilateral relations.”
The joint statement was the outcome of negotiations that, n the final leg, continued for five days. “The deal was abruptly announced after five days of intensive and secret talks in the Chinese capital Beijing,” Tehran Times reported. “It was signed by Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, the Saudi National Security Advisor, and Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.”
This China-mediated Iran-Saudi Arabia reconciliation is a black swan event-a surprise, rare watershed moment for international relations that’ll have major ripple effects across the globe, including South Asia-especially Pakistan-where Iran-KSA rivalry has played out heavily.
“The three countries expressed their keenness to exert all efforts towards enhancing regional and international peace and security,” the statement concluded.
The two countries snapped diplomatic ties on January 3, 2016, a day after Saudi embassy was stormed by angry Iranian protestors following the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia. On January 2, 2016, Riyadh executed nearly 50 people including prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Post-cold war between the two, oil facilities in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates came under attack by actors believed to be Iran-backed, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels, with whom, Riyadh is engaged directly.
Amid lowest ever ties and “proxy wars”, efforts at revving relations has been going on since April 2021. For the first time the two countries had a meeting in Baghdad on April 9, 2021 and the process continues and four rounds take place till ran pulls out on March 13, 2022, after fresh executions in Saudi Arabia. So far, five rounds of talks were held in Iraq, with Oman supporting the reconciliation. The final round of talks was going on in Beijing since March 6.
“The move comes as China expands its diplomatic outreach in the Arab world. In December, Chinese President Xi Jinping was welcomed in Riyadh in an extravagant ceremony as part of a visit that brought together 14 Arab heads of state,” American broadcaster, CNN reported from Abu Dhabi. “That was just months after a relatively low-key meeting with US President Joe Biden, whose relationship with Saudi Arabia has been frosty.”
China brokering peace between arch rivals is being seen as a bold diplomatic position. Interestingly, Iran was already facing music from the US and, off late, Saudi Kingdom had been lukewarm towards the major global power.
In a statement on its website, the Chinese foreign ministry quoted top diplomat Wang Yi as saying the agreement represented “a victory of dialogue and peace”.
“This shows that the Ukraine issue is not the only problem the world faces today,” Wang was quoted saying by South China Morning Post. “[We face] many problems related to peace and people’s livelihood that deserve international attention, and timely handling by the relevant stakeholders. But regardless of their complexity and difficulties, they can be resolved through dialogue on equal footing and with mutual respect.”
Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping guided the talks from the beginning, and the agreement between the three parties was testimony to the merits of Beijing’s “recent proposal” on handling international affairs. China, it may be recalled here sources 40 per cent of its fuel requirements from the Gulf.
“China’s role in hosting the talks that led to a breakthrough in a longstanding regional rivalry highlights the country’s growing economic and political importance in the Middle East, a region that was long shaped by the military and diplomatic involvement of the United States,” The New York Times reported. “The rivalry between the two Islamic nations, which are less than 150 miles away from each other across the Persian Gulf, has long shaped politics and trade in the Middle East. It has a sectarian dimension — a majority of Saudi Arabia’s population is Sunni, while Iran’s is overwhelmingly Shiite — but has predominantly played out via proxy conflicts in neighbouring Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran has supported militias that Saudi officials say have destabilized the region.”
SRINAGAR: Two Kashmiri pilgrims who have gone to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia have passed away after performing the sacred duties.
The Jammu Kashmir Association of Hajj Umrah Companies (JKAHUC) said that two Kashmiri pilgrims who have been identified as Misra Banoo of Pulwama and Ghulam Qadir Reshi of Tangmarg passed away after performing religious duties in Makkah.
According to JKAHUC, one lady namely Misra Banoo, 61 years old, w/o Abdul Rashid Mir r/o Amir Ahad, Tral, Pulwama breathed her last while returning to home from Umrah.
“She had a severe heart attack in flight from Jeddah to Delhi, Air crew had tried enough to save her and had even opted for emergency landing at Jodhpur, but couldn’t save her” the JKAHUC said.
Another pilgrim namely Ghulam Qadir, 80 years old, of Tangmarg, Baramulla also died while performing Umrah at Makkah.
“He had offered Fajr prayers at Haram Makkah Al Mukarma and as usual went to his room for rest. When co pilgrims tried to awake him for zuhr prayers, they found his dead. He had not been in good health since long” the JKAHUC said.
The EU’s energy war with Russia has entered a new phase — and there are signs that the Kremlin is starting to feel the pain.
As of Sunday, it is illegal to import petroleum products — those refined from crude oil, such as diesel, gasoline and naphtha — from Russia into the EU. That comes hot on the heels of the EU’s December ban on Russian seaborne crude oil.
Both measures are also linked to price caps imposed by the G7 club of rich democracies aimed at driving down the price that Russia gets for its oil and refined products without disrupting global energy markets.
Those actions appear to have bitten into the Kremlin’s budget in a way other economic penalties levied in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have not.
The Kremlin’s tax income from oil and gas in January was among its lowest monthly totals since the depths of COVID in 2020, according to Janis Kluge, senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
Kluge noted that while Russia’s 2023 budget anticipates 9 trillion rubles (€120 billion) in fossil fuel income, in January it earned only 425 billion rubles from oil and gas taxes, around half compared to the same month last year.
It’s only one month’s figures and the income does fluctuate, but Kluge called it “a bad start.”
Russia’s gas sales to Europe have also collapsed — in part as a result of Moscow’s own energy blackmail — with its share of imports declining from around 40 percent throughout 2021 to 13 percent for November 2022, according to the latest confirmed European Commission monthly figure.
But it’s oil that matters most to Kremlin coffers.
On Friday, EU countries struck a deal on two price caps which will come into full force later this year following a 55-day transition period. A cap of $100 will apply to “premium” oil products, including diesel, gasoline and kerosene. A cap of $45 will be enforced on “discount” products, such as fuel oil, naphtha and heating oil.
The EU ban and the G7 price caps are meant to work in tandem. While the EU bans Russian oil, cutting off a vital market, the price caps ensure that insurance and shipping firms based in the EU and other G7 countries aren’t completely blocked from facilitating the global trade in Russian oil. They still can, but it must be under the price caps. This way — so the theory goes — Russia’s fossil fuel revenue will take a hit without disrupting the global oil market in a way that could endanger supply and drive up the price for everyone.
Squeezing the Kremlin
Russia is selling more crude to China and India to make up for the lost trade with the EU | iStock
So far, EU leaders think, it’s working.
Buyers in China and India and other countries are hoovering up more Russian crude, making up for the lost trade with Europe. But knowing that Russia has few alternative markets, buyers have been able to drive down the price. “The discounts that Russia has to give, that its partners can demand, are strong and are here to stay,” said one senior European Commission official. Russian Urals crude is trading at around $50 per barrel, around $30 below the benchmark Brent crude price.
“I think in general the EU and the G7 can be quite happy with how things have unfolded with regards to the oil embargo and the price cap up to now,” said Kluge. “There has been no turbulence on global oil markets and at the same time Russia’s revenues have gone down considerably. The key reason here is that the price which Russia receives for its crude has gone down.”
The question is whether the EU can keep up the economic pressure on Russia without harming itself in the process.
So far, at least as far as oil is concerned, it’s been plain sailing. Oil markets have proved remarkably flexible since the EU’s crude ban in December, with export flows simply shifting: Asia now takes more Russian crude — often at a discount — while other producers in the Middle East and the U.S. step in to supply Europe.
So far, it is looking likely that a similar “reshuffle” of global trade will take place with oil products like diesel, said Claudio Galimberti, senior vice president of analysis at Rystad Energy.
The nature of the oil product sanctions means that there’s nothing to stop Russian crude from being exported to a third country, refined, and then re-exported to the EU, meaning that India and other countries are becoming more important oil product suppliers to the West.
China and India, as well as others in the Middle East and North Africa, also look likely to snap up Russian oil products that are no longer going straight into Europe, freeing up their own refining capacity to produce yet more product that they can sell into Europe and elsewhere.
“There is a reshuffle of product the same way there was a reshuffle of crude,” Galimberti said.
There could still be problems, however. “Europe is not going to import Russian diesel, so it needs to come from somewhere else,” Galimberti said, pointing to two major refineries in the Middle East — Kuwait’s Al-Zour and Saudi Arabia’s Jazan — upon which European supply will now be increasingly dependent.
“If you had a blip in one of these refineries you could see a price response in Europe,” said Galimberti. But for now, after a glut of imports in advance of Sunday’s ban, “inventories of distillates are full,” he added.
“Europe is in good shape.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Saudi Arabia offered to pay for new sports stadiums in Greece and Egypt if they agreed to team up with the oil-rich Gulf heavyweight in a joint bid to host the 2030 football World Cup, POLITICO can reveal.
In exchange, the Saudis would get to stage three-quarters of all the matches, under the proposed deal.
The dramatic offer — likely worth billions of euros in construction costs — was discussed in a private conversation between Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in summer 2022, according to a senior official familiar with the matter.
A second senior official with knowledge of private discussions on the bid told POLITICO that Saudi Arabia is prepared to “fully underwrite the costs” of hosting for Greece and Egypt, but 75 percent of the huge 48-team tournament itself would be held in the Gulf state.
It is not clear whether the offer was taken up. But the three countries are now working on a joint proposal to host the 2030 tournament, a move which has triggered a backlash against Greece.
Riyadh’s megabucks offer to Greece, reported here for the first time, will fuel criticism that Saudi Arabia is effectively attempting to use its astronomical wealth to buy the World Cup by creating a trans-continental coalition to cleverly take advantage of the voting system.
In an attempt to persuade the members of football’s world governing body, FIFA, of the virtues of the Saudi-led bid, the proposed tournament would see matches held across three continents, providing geographical balance. A Middle East-only World Cup bid would be unlikely to succeed just eight years after Qatar hosted the tournament in 2022.
The Saudis’ main rivals are a joint Spain, Portugal and Ukraine bid from Europe, and a South American bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile.
The decision on who hosts the 2030 World Cup comes down to a public vote of the entire FIFA Congress, made up of more than 200 member associations from around the globe. If African countries, attracted by Egypt’s presence and Saudi investment around Africa, rally behind the bid, and Asian nations do the same, while Greece siphons off some European votes, the Saudi-led proposal will stand a strong chance of winning.
POLITICO approached all three governments for comment. The Greek and Saudi governments declined to comment and the Egyptian government did not respond to POLITICO’s requests. FIFA also declined to comment.
‘New world order’
Holding the World Cup would be the culmination of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious strategy to dominate major sporting events. Successes include winning the rights to host world championship boxing bouts, European football and Formula One motor races, while creating its own rebel golf tour. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund also bought a prominent English football club and the country will host football’s Asian Cup for the first time in 2027.
But Saudi Arabia’s desire to stage the World Cup goes beyond reasons of sporting prestige, according to one regional expert.
Lionel Messi of Argentina lifts the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Winner’s Trophy after the team’s victory during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 | Julian Finney/Getty Images
“Saudi Arabia is strategically trying to position itself as an AfroEurasian hub — the center of a new world order,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris, said of the Saudi-fronted bid. “This positioning would enable Saudi Arabia to exert significant power and influence across a vast geographic area, which it is seeking to achieve by building relationships with key partners.”
“The multipolar staging of a World Cup with Egypt and Greece would be neither altruism nor largesse. Rather, it would form part of a wider plan, which the government in Riyadh is enabling through the potential gifting of stadiums,” he added.
The Saudi move to host the tournament has sparked disgust among human rights watchdogs, who point out the country’s brutal treatment of the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers.
“Saudi Arabian repression should not be rewarded with a World Cup,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “So long as Saudi Arabia discriminates against LGBT people and punishes women for human rights activism, and does not have protections for the migrant laborers who would build the majority of the new stadiums and facilities, the country cannot meet the human rights requirements that FIFA already has in place.”
The 2022 Qatar World Cup was blighted by criticism of the Gulf state over its treatment of migrant workers.
Bad memories
In Greece, paying for sports infrastructure is a touchy subject, where it is seen as a monument to government profligacy.
Back in 2004, Athens hosted the Olympic Games, with Greece splurging around €9 billion. However, much of the infrastructure was left abandoned after the Olympic flame went out.
As the country entered a decade-long depression and had to resort to bailout programs to avoid bankruptcy, the Olympics became a source of anger for Greeks who questioned whether the Games pushed their country further into recession. Nearly two decades after the Olympics extravaganza, many of the 30 venues remain unused, while some have been demolished.
Since coming to power in 2019, Greece’s conservative New Democracy government has sought to deepen ties with the Saudis and other Gulf countries, as a response to arch-rival Turkey’s expansionist policy in the region.
Mitsotakis has visited Riyadh multiple times, Greece has delivered military equipment and soldiers to Saudi Arabia and, in July last year, Athens became the first EU capital visited by bin Salman since he personally approved, according to declassified U.S. intelligence, the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Bin Salman, who is back in the West’s good books thanks to an energy crisis triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine, signed a number of bilateral agreements in Athens last summer, while pledging to make Greece an energy hub for the distribution of “green hydrogen.”
Saudi Arabia has traditionally enjoyed close diplomatic ties with Egypt. Bin Salman met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo last June where he signed billions of euros worth of investment deals and discussed “bilateral, regional cooperation.”
The decision on World Cup 2030 hosting will be made in 2024, with the bidding process set to open officially later this year.
Nektaria Stamouli and Nicolas Camut contributed reporting.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
