Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Member of the Council of Ministers Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir addressed the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, which devoted a special session on this occasion to a general discussion on relations between the Kingdom and the European Union. The minister said that the Kingdom wants to face the region's challenges from Palestine to Iraq, through Iran's activities, the situation in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, Syria, and more. He added that the Kingdom wants to face all these challenges and focus on its internal growth, work on the success of Vision 2030, reduce dependence on oil, establish an advanced educational system, combat extremism, establish a tolerant society and provide opportunities for young people, and said, "We want to make the Kingdom stable, prosperous and less vulnerable to the instability of its neighbors. He explained that the Kingdom has succeeded in achieving important achievements for the benefit of women in various sectors and empowering them with their rights. Minister Al-Jubeir said, "We want to put an end to every extremism to put in place a tolerance regime, and for the world to see our society as a modern and tolerant society, and we hope to accelerate our work to move forward in favor of the Saudis." He added, "We check the results of our policy, as there has been an increase in foreign investment and an increase in the number of foreign companies operating in the Kingdom, which reflects actual confidence in the reform process." On Qatar, Minister Al-Jubeir said, "Qatar supports the financing of extremist groups such as Hezbollah and we have problems with Qatar because it interferes in our affairs, and its media are a beacon to promote hate speech." He added, "The Qatari brothers must change their behavior, and the Kingdom has worked to preserve, as much as possible, the functioning of the Gulf Cooperation Council. On citizen Raef Badawi, the Minister said, "It is a matter for the Saudi judiciary, which is an independent judiciary, and the kingdom is not a banana republic and respects the judiciary." Minister Al-Jubeir stressed that the Kingdom does not receive any lessons from anyone, and does not give lessons to anyone, but we are friends and allies, but it is not possible to prosecute a sovereign state without adequate information and data. On Turkey, Minister Al-Jubeir said, "Turkey is an important country and we have serious economic relations with it, but it interferes in Syria's affairs and Libya's affairs. We hope to continue relations with it and to be a responsible member that contributes to stability."
