Mitsotakis First EU Leader in Gulf After Iranian Strikes, Meets UAE President in Show of Solidarity

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has arrived successful Abu Dhabi arsenic the archetypal European Union person to sojourn the Gulf portion pursuing caller Iranian subject strikes against Emirati infrastructure, utilizing the unscheduled sojourn to explicit solidarity and propulsion for a diplomatic solution to the deepening Middle East crisis.

In talks astatine the statesmanlike palace with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Mr. Mitsotakis condemned the Iranian attacks connected civilian infrastructure without qualification. "Athens stands successful afloat solidarity with Abu Dhabi," helium said, calling for a diplomatic way to reconstruct semipermanent stableness and information crossed the region.

Both leaders underscored their committedness to state of navigation done the Strait of Hormuz nether planetary instrumentality — a precedence that carries peculiar value for Greece arsenic the world's largest shipping federation and for the UAE arsenic a large lipid exporter babelike connected unimpeded maritime access.

The sojourn coincided with the 50th day of diplomatic relations betwixt Greece and the UAE.

The 2 leaders witnessed the signing of a memorandum of knowing connected practice successful artificial quality and technology, further deepening a broad strategical concern that has expanded importantly successful caller years.

Mr. Mitsotakis departed Abu Dhabi for Amman, Jordan, wherever helium is owed to enactment successful a tripartite Greece-Cyprus-Jordan acme connected Wednesday.

The back-to-back engagements reenforce Athens' positioning arsenic an progressive diplomatic broker successful the Middle East — a relation Greek officials person been cautiously cultivating done sustained engagement with Gulf states, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon amid the ongoing determination conflict.