HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs:
Thank you, Minister, for your kind reception and hospitality
Our meeting today with His Excellency Mr. Heiko Maas is part of the continuous cooperation and close relations of more than four decades between the State of Qatar and Germany. There were fruitful and constructive discussions on bilateral relations between the two countries and follow up of the results of His Highness the Amir's visit to Germany in the autumn of 2018. Of course, speaking about the strong economic relations existing between the State of Qatar and Germany, I have to say that Qatar has an important economic partnership with Germany both in terms of the investments of the State of Qatar in Germany and the investments of German companies in the State of Qatar. German companies also play an important role in the Qatari economy, and we are looking forward to developing and deepening this relation.
At the political level, we also discussed the joint coordination between our two countries, especially in the areas related to the security of the region in light of Germany's membership in and presidency of the Security Council, a position that also entrusts Germany with an additional task of maintaining international peace and security in conformity with the vision of the State of Qatar with regard to preventing disagreements and trying to resolve armed conflicts as soon as possible.
There has been a lot of talks about the key issue in the Middle East i.e. the Palestinian cause and the Middle East peace process, and how the State of Qatar and Germany can support peace and humanitarian efforts of the UNRWA and humanitarian efforts and projects of both countries in Gaza; and we thank Germany for this constructive role of helping to satisfy the needs of our Palestinian brothers.
Regarding Libya, the latest developments in the situation there were discussed, including the escalation made by Haftar's forces attempting to dictate a new political status quo through military action, and how Germany can work through its presidency of the Security Council to stop this escalation and return to the political track for resolution. The two countries share the same views and vision on this issue – that the political process rather than military action is the best avenue for resolution. For us, the legitimate government is the government of the national accord that was formed in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, and we call on all countries not to use double standards with regard to such attacking forces at the expense of legitimacy by describing them as legitimate in some countries in the region and dissident in others. We wish that all countries trying to play a role in Libya would ensure that that role is positive,
Regarding talks on the Gulf crisis and the future of the GCC, we appreciated Germany's position of calling for preserving the GCC, in which the State of Qatar is a member, as a unified entity. The State of Qatar particularly cares for preserving the GCC, but unfortunately, we cannot control a crisis that we are not responsible for, at the end of the day, wisdom must prevail to put an end to this crisis and reach a solution. We support, with all due appreciation, the Kuwaiti mediation led by HH Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed. The state of Qatar, as I mentioned earlier, is open to all solutions that are based on unconditional dialogue, conformity with the international law, and abstention from infringing the sovereignty or violating the dignity of any state.
Of course, we see in the end that our peoples are the party who is going to pay the price through disintegration and discord. We in the State of Qatar are still looking forward to having a strong GCC in the future, and to seeing water coming back to its course. However, any solution must be proceeded by honest intentions.
Thank you, Your Excellency, very much for your kind reception and constructive discussions.