Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Affairs, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that the European Union's issuance of statements that do not reflect the reality of the situation, regarding the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and other individual issues, is unacceptable and negatively affects bilateral relations, stressing that the Kingdom is a state of law and institutions, whose constitution guarantees all rights.

Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa held a series of meetings with officials of the European External Action Service in the Belgian capital, Brussels, with Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Belgium, Bahiya Al-Jishi and the Director of European Affairs and European Union Directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aysha bint Ahmed Al Khalifa in attendance.

During his meeting with the Acting Director of the Department of Middle East and North Africa Affairs of the European External Action Service, Ambassador Colin Scicluna, Dr. Shaikh Abdullah expressed his pride and appreciation for the friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the European Union, and reviewed ways to further enhance these relations to serve common interests.

The Undersecretary stressed the importance of cooperation and understanding between the Kingdom and the European Union in the field of human rights, stressing the Kingdom of Bahrain's firm commitment to the protection of human rights. He highlighted the Kingdom's pioneering achievements in respecting fundamental freedoms, justice and the rule of law, according to the principles of the National Action Charter and the provisions of the Constitution.

Abdullah also discussed the decision to include the Kingdom of Bahrain in the European list of non-cooperative parties in tax matters. He expressed the Kingdom's dissatisfaction with this decision due to the international recognition of the transparency of the Kingdom's financial systems.

He affirmed the Kingdom's commitment to achieve financial transparency in line with international standards, highlighting the Kingdom's signing of the Organization for Economic Cooperation's Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters. He added that the Kingdom has begun to ratify the two agreements in accordance with the applicable legislative procedures, calling on the European Union to correct this unjustified procedure in the near future.

Arabic Version