Adel bin Ahmad Al-Jubeir, Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressed that the Saudi-Austrian relations are very distinct, confirming that the two countries seek to enhance these relations at all levels. Al-Jubeir pointed out that the economic partnership between the two countries where 400 companies are practicing commercial activity in the Kingdom. This came in a joint press conference held yesterday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz. Al-Jubeir added that they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and how to enhance these relations in all fields. "We discussed the latest regional developments, particularly the situations in Syria and Yemen, terrorism and the issue of Syrian refugees in Europe," Al-Jubeir said. Adel Al-Jubeir disclosed that the talks between the two sides dealt with raising number of the Saudi visitors to Austria which a positive matter, pointing out that percentage of the Saudis who have visited Austria rose about 20% from last year, 'the two sides seek to promote it,' Al-Jubeir added. For his part, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz pointed out to the Saudi-Austrian agreement regarding providing million euro of aid in the field of education, stressing importance of the joint action and necessary to exert efforts to defeat terrorism and drain its resources and address the threats launched by terrorist organizations, such as ISIS and all foreign fighters causing the suffering of the peoples and returning to Austria, Saudi Arabia or Germany and threatening those countries after their return, citing the tragic events that took place in France and Europe. He indicated that the two sides discussed the Syrian issue, 'choosing Vienna to be the headquarters of the peace talks is a good thing. We discussed the situation of refugees in Europe, as a major challenge,' the Austrian minister added, stressing the need to give them the opportunities within the region. Kurz lauded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's efforts in helping Syrian refugees and hosting them because these refugees need assistance, stressing taking care of them within the region gives them a better chance to return to their homeland after the end of the crisis. Then, Al-Jubeir and his Austrian counterpart answered questions of the reporters. Al-Jubeir denied that there is no any change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or Austria's stances towards the Syrian issue and how to apply the 'Geneva 1' principles which require establishment of a transitional rule body and turn the power from Al-Assad regime to the body that manages the country's affairs and preserves the civil and military institutions in addition to establish a new constitution for the country and prepares for fair elections in order to support Syria's better future with no role of Bashar Al-Assad at all, 'this matter was agreed in the meetings of Vienna which was designed to approximate the stances,' Al-Jubeir added, stressing that the first meeting was success in this regard but the sticking point was about how and when departure of Bashar Al-Assad. He stressed that the Vienna meeting 2 was positive through some identical views among the countries, but there are still some discrepancy between the participating countries and Russia as well as more discrepancy between these countries and Iran on the issue of the departure of Bashar Al-Assad. Al-Jubeir pointed out that the Kingdom hopes through hosting the meetings of the Syrian opposition to the unification of the Syrian opposition row, as a main goal, in addition to help them to reach a unified vision in order to play a more active role in the talks, stressing that the main goal is still to reach a peaceful solution leading to removal of the Al-Assad regime, 'the military option is still existed in addition to continuous support to the Syrian opposition continuously,' Al-Jubeir added, stressing that the political process still exists and there is no future for Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. Regarding the future expectations for the meeting in Vienna, Al-Jubeir said that the talks are still existing wherever the meeting is to be hosted by Vienna or any other city because these talks will reflect positively on the interest of the international community, 'everyone hopes that there will be a unified vision and the public interest is to reach a peaceful solution in Syria,' the minister of foreign affairs added. He pointed out that the meetings are not linked to what the current events in world, similar to what has happened between Turkey and Russia but are linked to the Syrian crisis, 'so, I do not expect the talks are to be affected. I hope that both countries, Russia and Turkey, are to deal with wisdom and poise with the situation,' AL-Jubeir said, stressing the Kingdom's confidence in the ability of the two parties to handle wisely in order to not affect negatively to the situation in Syria. Regarding the terrorist attacks in Paris, the Austrian Foreign Minister said 'there is a tension due to these events but have no impact on awareness and perception or the peace negotiations in Syria in Vienna.' 'Regarding the visas, we discussed this issue, particularly with regard to providing facilitation of visas for male and female diplomats,' he added, pointing out that there is a dialogue on visas with the European Union and we await the results of these talks In this regard, Al-Jubeir said that the visa situation has no change, 'there were rumors that France halted visas but this is not has based on fact because things remain as they were before the criminal events in Paris,' he added. The Austrian Foreign Minister stressed importance of protecting the EU security.
