Academics discuss ways to promote Saudi-European cooperation

RIYADH: King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies has held discussions with a delegation of top European academics and experts on foreign affairs at the institute’s development of human resources training department in Riyadh. They discussed Saudi Arabia’s regional role, Saudi-European cooperation, the security situation in the region and its implications for the stability of the countries.
The discussions started with a speech by Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, CEO of the King Abdullah Foundation, who welcomed the delegation and praised the historic relations between the Kingdom and Europe. He also welcomed attendees, which included European ambassadors, academics, researchers and Saudi professors of political science.
The center’s secretary-general, Saud bin Saleh Al-Sarhan, said the discussions and accompanying workshop point to the keenness of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies to maintain ties with international academic and research institutions so as to enhance academic research in regional issues.
The European delegation included Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister; Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and former assistant to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Ellie Geranmayeh, policy fellow for the Middle East and North Africa Program at ECFR; Alexander Stubb, former Finnish prime minister and foreign minister and member of the European Parliament; Joseph Mifsud, director of the London Academy of Diplomacy; Arnaud Danjean, member of the European Parliament and chairman of the Committee on Security and Defense at ECFR; Julien Barnes-Dacey, senior policy fellow and interim head of the MENA program at ECFR; and MattiaToaldo, policy fellow at ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa program.
The discussions were also attended by several ambassadors and diplomats from European countries, including Italian Ambassador Luca Ferrari, Finnish Ambassador Pekka Voutilainen, Swedish Ambassador Jann Knutsson, Norwegian Ambassador Rolf Willy Hansen, Ambassador of Denmark Ole Frijs-Madsen, Cypriot Ambassador Nikos Panayi and first advisor at the French embassy, Eric Jerou, on behalf of the French ambassador.