UAE to host landmark parliamentary session with EU President
A landmark parliamentary session is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), hosts Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, for an official UAE–European session.
This marks the first-ever visit by a sitting European Parliament President to the Gulf region, highlighting the growing strategic ties between the UAE and the European Union.
The visit follows an official invitation from the FNC and comes at a key moment in UAE–EU relations, with negotiations underway for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The session at the FNC's Zayed Hall in Abu Dhabi will bring together senior ministers, EU diplomats and officials for a dialogue focused on boosting parliamentary cooperation and aligning positions on regional and global issues.
As part of the agenda, the FNC will also host the 18th meeting of GCC parliamentary heads, with Metsola joining discussions to further strengthen GCC–EU relations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Orban's anti-Ukraine campaign targets political rival
As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighboring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbán has charted a starkly different course — refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbán has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign — presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration. Some of his ideas mirror the growing anti-Ukraine messaging coming from right-wing populists in the West, including from President Donald Trump. 'Let's be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government (in Hungary),' Orbán said on June 6 in comments to state radio. 'They want to change Hungary's policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner.' At the heart of Orbán's claims is Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, something Kyiv believes would place it firmly within the embrace of the West and provide a measure of security against potential Russian attacks in the future. While Orbán was a firm supporter of Ukraine's eventual EU accession shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he now argues that its membership — which will likely take many years — would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, threatening national sovereignty and economic stability. He has also spuriously claimed that Brussels and Kyiv intend to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines. On Monday, Orbán posted a video to his social media page depicting animated, artificial intelligence-generated scenes of bloodied, machine-gun wielding Hungarian soldiers engaged in armed conflict, and rows of caskets lined beneath Hungarian flags. 'We don't want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins,' he said in the video. Central to Orbán's life-or-death narrative of the Hungarian election is his growing campaign against his main political rival, Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider whose new Tisza party has surged in popularity. Once married to Hungary's former justice minister, Magyar has become the most formidable challenger to Orbán's rule since the EU's longest-serving leader took office in 2010. With Tisza leading Fidesz in most independent polls, some analysts and domestic critics believe Orbán may be laying the groundwork to discredit or even disqualify Magyar ahead of the 2026 election. Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, said Orbán's attempt to link Magyar and Tisza to the image of a dangerous Ukraine is aimed at neutralizing his domestic opposition as popular sentiment appears to be turning against him. 'There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party,' he said. 'If you can't win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit.'
Dubai Eye
8 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
UAE to host landmark parliamentary session with EU President
A landmark parliamentary session is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), hosts Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, for an official UAE–European session. This marks the first-ever visit by a sitting European Parliament President to the Gulf region, highlighting the growing strategic ties between the UAE and the European Union. The visit follows an official invitation from the FNC and comes at a key moment in UAE–EU relations, with negotiations underway for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The session at the FNC's Zayed Hall in Abu Dhabi will bring together senior ministers, EU diplomats and officials for a dialogue focused on boosting parliamentary cooperation and aligning positions on regional and global issues. As part of the agenda, the FNC will also host the 18th meeting of GCC parliamentary heads, with Metsola joining discussions to further strengthen GCC–EU relations.
Dubai Eye
8 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Ukraine asks allies to allocate 0.25% of GDP to boost its weapon production
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine's Western partners to allocate 0.25 per cent of their GDP to helping Kyiv ramp up weapons production and said the country plans to sign agreements this summer to start exporting weapon production technologies. In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was in talks with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Lithuania to launch joint weapon production. "Ukraine is part of Europe's security and we want 0.25% of the GDP of a particular partner country to be allocated for our defence industry and domestic production," Zelenskyy said. As the war with a bigger and better-equipped Russia has intensified in recent weeks, Ukraine's need for new weapons and ammunition is constantly growing. This year Kyiv had secured $43 billion to finance its domestic weapon production, Zelenskyy said. Member nations of the NATO military alliance are expected to meet next week in The Hague, to discuss higher defence spending. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that countries should each agree to spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence and security measures. Zelenskyy said he was likely to visit the NATO summit, adding that several meetings with Western leaders had been set up on the sidelines. He also said that he hoped to meet US President Donald Trump. Last week, Zelenskyy attended the Group of Seven summit in Canada as he sought to discuss stronger sanctions against Russia and more military support for Ukraine with Trump there. But he failed to meet with the US President as Trump left a day early for Washington to address the Israel-Iran conflict. Ukraine currently covers about 40 per cent of its defence needs with domestic production, and the government is constantly looking for ways to increase production further. Kyiv plans to launch joint weapon production outside of the country and will start exporting some of its military production technologies, Zelenskyy said. "We have launched a programme 'Build with Ukraine' and in summer we will sign relevant agreements to start exporting our technologies abroad in the format of opening production lines in European countries," Zelenskyy said. The discussions focused on producing different types of drones, missiles, and potentially artillery, he added.
