KUWAIT: Vice President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili briefed EU ambassadors on the Schengen visa waiver for Kuwaiti nationals, which was also a main topic of discussion in her meetings with Kuwaiti officials during her official visit on Sunday. She added the Schengen visa waiver file at the European Parliament is on the right track. Once the European Parliament votes on the visa waiver, and if passed, it would have still to be agreed by the Council as per the European Union's Ordinary Legislative Procedure.

If the visa waiver for Kuwaiti nationals is adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission will start negotiations for a visa waiver agreement with Kuwait to ensure full reciprocity for EU citizens. Visa-free travel to the EU for nationals of Kuwait will start applying once the visa waiver agreement enters into force.

The aim of Kaili's meeting with ambassadors of EU member states represented in Kuwait was to brief them about her discussions with high-level Kuwait government and National Assembly officials, including National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Prime Minister HH Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Dr Bader Al-Mulla, Minister of Public Works, Electricity, Water and Renewable Energies Dr Amani Buqammaz as well as Ambassador Waleed Al-Khobeizi, Acting Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During her visit to the National Assembly, Eva Kaili was received by Saadoun, Deputy Speaker Mohammed Al-Mutair and MPs Dr Jenan Bushehri and Alia Al-Khaled. Kaili also met the foreign affairs committee. Kaili informed EU ambassadors about her discussions in Kuwait on how to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas such as people to people contacts, energy transition, research and innovation, economic diversification, investments and education.

Kaili also discussed women's empowerment and human rights matters with her interlocutors, as well as issues faced by European Union citizens residing in Kuwait. The visit of Kaili strengthens political and inter-parliamentary ties between the European Union and Kuwait and builds on the successful visit of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula to Kuwait last year.