nabd-alhadath – Ahmed Bin Abdulqader
His Excellency Mr Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), pointed out that the high-level participation from both the GCC and European sides at the first meeting of the General Directors of Gulf-European Criminal Investigations reflects the significance both sides attach to the issue of activating security cooperation between them, as well as their desire to develop their security systems, discuss their countries’ experiences, and exchange expertise.
This was stated during His Excellency’s speech at the first meeting of the GCC-European General Directors of Criminal Investigations, which is held on February 5-6, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of His Excellency Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, along with a number of General Directors of Criminal Investigations from both Gulf and European sides.
At the beginning of his speech, His Excellency extended his highest thanks and appreciation to His Highness Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, for his generous guidance and unlimited support for the journey of joint GCC work. He also expressed his sincere gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, for the generous hosting of this meeting and for his wise directives aimed at enhancing GCC-European cooperation in the security field.
His Excellency mentioned during his speech that this meeting comes in implementation of the decisions of Their Highnesses and Excellencies, the Ministers of Interior of the GCC, during their previous meetings.
“These decisions call for intensifying the Cooperation Council’s collaboration with regional and international groups and organisations, with the aim of enhancing and supporting the GCC security system,” His Excellency explained.
He also expressed his hope to emerge from this meeting with joint initiatives and projects to combat crime and mitigate its effects in the Gulf region and Europe.
Moreover, His Excellency underscored what was stated in the joint closing statement of the first GCC-European summit, which was held in Brussels on October 16, 2024, under the title “Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.”
The summit stressed the importance of deepening the strategic partnership between the European Union (EU) and the GCC, enhancing the growing political ties between them, and working together to address the challenges threatening regional and international peace, security, and stability.
Furthermore, His Excellency Mr Albudaiwi reviewed some of the joint achievements made between the GCC and European sides, which represent a source of pride for everyone, including the launch of regional security dialogue, the high-level ministerial forum, and the signing of a letter of intent.
In conclusion, His Excellency pointed out the focus of both sides on the importance of developing joint action plans for the period 2025 – 2027, and cooperation in several areas, most importantly, upgrading mechanisms for exchanging information and reports to address threats arising from organised crime, designing joint strategies to ensure an effective and sustainable response to combat transnational organised crime, and building capacities through holding joint training programmes in the field of combating organised crime.
