BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2019) The next EU-League of Arab States (LAS) summit will take place in Egypt in late February, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday.
"We will also have two short sessions to prepare, on one side, the ministerial we will have with the League of Arab States' foreign ministers in the beginning of February to prepare for the summit with the League of Arab States that we will have in Egypt in end of February ... and our ministerial with ASEAN," Mogherini told reporters, upon arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
Mogherini noted that the EU-Arab League summit would focus on the "regional crises we are facing around the Mediterranean."
Foreign Minister Teodor-Viorel Melescanu of Romania, the country currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, specified that the summit would be held in the coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
When asked to comment on possible return of Syria to LAS, the minister said that "it depends on the league."
"We are ready for dialogue with all the countries from the Arab world," he added.
Later in the day, the press service of the Council of the European Union said that the EU-Arab League summit was scheduled for February 24-25 in Sharm El-Sheikh and it would be preceded by a ministerial meeting of the European Union and the Arab League on February 4 in Brussels.
Syria's LAS membership was suspended following the beginning of the armed conflict in the country. Syria, which is one of the founding states of the Arab League, condemned the decision as illegal. Since then, Damascus has not been participating in the work of the organization.
However, some Arab countries are now making steps to re-establish diplomatic ties with Damascus.
