Di Maio special EU envoy in the Gulf? Now the Arab countries don’t want it

Di Maio special EU envoy? Now the Gulf countries don’t want it

Luigi Di Maio’s candidacy as special envoy of the European Union in the Gulf is losing ground and consensus. As Il Fatto Quotidiano writes, “apparently, it is precisely the Gulf countries that are more than surprised, disappointed. As known, the candidacy of Di Maio, whose appointment will be approved by the EU Council on a proposal from the High Representative for foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, was advanced, according to various European sources, by the Draghi government, even if Di Maio himself specified that he had presented a technical candidacy to the commission of experts set up by Borrell himself”.

According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, there are concerns “from the head of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center, Mohammed Baharoon, who wrote on social media:”Luigi Di Maio’s appointment must have a deep European sense of humor that escapes me”. Speaking to the English-language newspaper specializing in the Middle East, The National, Baharoon said it was difficult to expect Di Maio to develop positive relations between the Gulf countries and the European Union, given that “he has ruined his country’s relations with two of the main countries of the GCC”.

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