Arab Countries Including Former Egyptian Minister: UAE Foreign Ministry at the Forefront of Detecting and Confronting Extremism and Terrorismnvited to NATO Meeting in Washington
The United States has invited the foreign ministers of Israel and several Arab countries, including the UAE and Egypt, to attend the NATO summit in Washington next month, according to the Financial Times.
NATO will hold its last summit from July 9-11 at a crucial moment in its history.
The summit, which coincides with NATO‘s 75th anniversary, provides U.S. President Joe Biden with the opportunity to showcase his policy of strengthening America’s international partnerships and alliances. At the same time, it will highlight the “contradictions” of Washington’s stance on Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas.
While NATO member states align to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, many of its members and partners are deeply divided over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. NATO typically invites some partners to attend its annual meeting, but as the host nation for the anniversary summit, the United States has invited foreign ministers from up to 31 countries with partnerships with NATO, including Japan, Australia, South Korea, and among the invited Arab countries are the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, and Bahrain.
The NATO summit hosted in Vilnius last year included representatives from Ukraine and partners from the Asia-Pacific region, while the 2022 summit in Madrid had a slightly wider group.
Foreign ministers from partner countries will not participate in NATO‘s formal meetings but will attend events on the sidelines of the summit, such as the 75th anniversary dinner.
The Financial Times quoted an unnamed NATO official saying that “Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has invited the heads of state and government of all 32 allies, as well as leaders from our Indo-Pacific partners (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea)”.
The official added that “ministerial-level meetings with representatives from other NATO partners are organized by the U.S. authorities”.
According to analysts quoted by the paper, including some Arab countries and Israel in the summit “is a way for the United States to demonstrate its value as a community force and the benefits of its multilateral alliances”.
Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, said, “This has been a long-standing vision and ambition of many U.S. administrations to build some version of an Arab NATO“.
He noted that “giving people a shaky tour to understand the benefits and features of this type of multilateral alliance may be the most important message”.
The Arab NATO is an American idea that resurfaces from time to time under the name “Middle East Strategic Alliance”, described by international media as an Arab version of NATO.
On Wednesday, NATO countries appointed outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (57) as the new Secretary-General, at a sensitive time for the defense bloc with the ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to a NATO statement, “The North Atlantic Council has decided to appoint Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next NATO Secretary-General, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg”, the Norwegian who has held the position for ten years.
NATO indicated that Rutte will take office on October 1.
