Prague: Qatar is seen as a reliable partner amid the ongoing global energy crisis, and countries struggling with fossil fuel and natural gas shortages are seeking to further develop their relations with the Gulf country, according to the First Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) Jan Zahradil.
In an interview with QNA, Zahradil stressed the utmost importance of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s state visit to the Czech Republic.
“The visit comes in times where the Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and also in times where Czech Republic and European Union as a whole are facing unpresented energy crisis”.
He expressed his hope that the visit would contribute to enhancing bilateral relations between both countries as well as Qatar’s relations with the European Union and push them toward broader horizons, not only in the field of energy security and exports of fossil fuels but also in other various fields.
Zahradil also stressed that Qatar-Czech relations are witnessing continuous developments and have achieved remarkable progress during the past few years. He pointed out that Qatar represents a reliable partner and a gate for further cooperation between the Czech Republic, the EU, and the countries of the region. He added that Qatar is a prosperous and stable country that represents a role model for countries that the Czech Republic seeks to build partnerships with and that the Czech Republic can play a role in enhancing the cooperation between Qatar and the EU.
Regarding the opening of the premises of the European Delegation in Qatar which was recently inaugurated by the President of the European Council H E Charles Michel, Zahradil stressed that opening the premises of the European Delegation in Qatar represents the great interest paid by the EU to the State of Qatar and its keenness to strengthen cooperation and deepen the relations between the two sides.
On Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 next month, he said that the tournament will highlight the efforts exerted by the State of Qatar in hosting such global events and that the audience around the world will realise Qatar’s ability to organise the mega event according to highest international standards, noting the role of sports and sports events in bringing people together.
Concerning the Czech Republic’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the European Union Council in the shadows of the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, Zahradil said that the EU and all member states are in a very uncomfortable situation because the Russian-Ukrainian crisis put the EU countries into something they have never experienced before, pointing out that they were not well prepared for such situation.
He explained that the European Union is now facing a shortage of fossil fuel (oil and gas) supplies, adding that “it is in our vital interest to develop relations with reliable partners with which we can share some general outlook on the global, political and economic scene, and we firmly believe that Qatar is one of them”.
He added: “What we are doing now is that we are trying to introduce some measures to tackle this energy crisis like for instance capping prices of gas and oil on both European level and Asian level as well. But also we are seeking new partners, new exporters of securing LNG to Europe and particularly to central eastern Europe, because countries like Czech Republic are more dependent on or they have been more dependent on Russian exports, so we are in even more serious situation than some of our other counterpart in European Union. We have to face this and we have to solve this, and we very much hope that we will be solving this with the help and assistance of developing relations with countries like Qatar”.
