Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese has called for a deepening of the relationship between the EU and the Arab Gulf states as part of Europe's overall response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms McAleese was speaking during a webinar on the post-Covid emergency as an advisor to the Bussola Institute, an organisation that seeks to foster ties between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
She was also outspoken in her criticism of US President Donald Trump's administration. On the EU's links with the Gulf states, Ms McAleese said: "We should be pushing and pushing to ensure that the relationship between the European Union and the Gulf states, which we are about the business of trying to enhance and develop, [is strengthened, and]