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ROME, July 4: Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah held talks on Tuesday with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on various issues of joint concern namely prospects of relieving Kuwaiti nationals of the Schengen visa.
The Kuwaiti foreign minister, heading a delegation and currently paying an official visit to Italy, conveyed greetings from the State of Kuwait political leadership to the Italian people and leadership, wishing them lasting progress and prosperity.
Official talks between the Kuwaiti and Italian sides addressed the close bilateral relations and means of boosting the ties in various spheres. The file of relieving Kuwaiti citizens of the Schengen visa topped topics of the official deliberations in addition to joint efforts to rally European support for this cause.
For his part, the Italian foreign minister affirmed Rome’s support for resolving this file, noting Italy’s continuous efforts in this regard in the European Union and the European Parliament.
Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber along with the accompanying officials discussed with the Italian peers regional and international affairs, where stances of the two sides appeared harmonious particularly on resolving crises with peaceful means; such an approach is a necessity to maintain the international order.
Moreover, they broached regional files namely Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine and repercussions of issues in these countries on the regional and international arenas, in addition to climate change and swapping information in this domain.
The talks capped with inking a number of memorandum of understanding, namely a MoU for holding strategic dialogue between Kuwait and Rome, adopting the executive program for cultural cooperation for the years 2023-2024-2025, another one between Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Separately, the Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber met with Speaker of the Italian Parliament Lorenzo Fontana, relaying warm greetings from the State of Kuwait political leadership to the Republic of Italy, the friendly Italian people and wish of the Kuwaiti leaders to see further development and prosperity in the European nation.
Talks between the two sides dealt with the close bilateral relations and means of cementing these ties particularly at the parliamentary and grass-root levels. The issue of the Schengen visa was also raised, namely the Italian parliament’s efforts in the European Parliament in this regard. Moreover, Sheikh Salem Abdullah affirmed keenness on boosting the friendly and historic relationship between the two countries during the meeting.
Meanwhile, the chief Italian parliamentarian praised the distinctive and historic ties with Kuwait, noting the aspiration to boost the relations particularly at the commercial and tourism levels. The talks also covered issues such as Ukraine while the two sides affirmed necessity to establish international security and peace.
Same topics were also on the table of talks between Sheikh Salem Abdullah and the head of the Italian-Kuwaiti Friedship Parliamentary Committee, Senator Matteo Jamiti.
Sheikh Salem raised the visa issue while noting necessity to lift taxes slapped on Kuwaiti oil investments in Italy. The Italian host assured the Kuwaiti officials the visa issue is one of the top topics regularly discussed in the commission, also noting his efforts to to tackle the file of the taxes. The Italian side praised the State of Kuwait for adopting successful policies at the regional and international levels.
Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber also met with the Chairperson of the parliamentary foreign affairs commission Jiulio Tremonti and its members, discussing means of promoting cooperation at the economic, cultural, educational, security, political, diplomatic and parliamentary levels, in addition to enhancing the cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism.
Members of the Italian commission underlined great significance of broadening economic cooperation and exploring feasible projects in the energy sector. They expressed gratitude to the State of Kuwait’s efforts at the humanitarian and diplomatic levels at the regional and international levels.