Frank-Walter Steinmeier, leader of the opposition in the German Parliament, wrapped up his visit to the Gulf on Friday by meeting several Saudi and Gulf officials including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Abdullateef Al-Zayani, secretary-general of the GCC, during his stay in Riyadh.
“The talks with Saudi officials mainly focused on the regional developments, especially in Iran and Syria,” said Steinmeier in an interview in Riyadh Friday. He said nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran are a serious threat to Arab neighbors including the Gulf states and the world at large. Steinmeier, who is chairman of the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group, said the primary aim of his visit was to "gather information about Iran."
To this end, he said there are "real concerns" in the Gulf in terms of Iran's nuclear activities and its belligerent attitude. Iranian warships are already in the Mediterranean Sea after crossing the Suez Canal on Saturday.
Asked about possible solution to Iran's nuclear enrichment problem, Steinmeier said: “I understand the Arab world cannot allow that Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons." The German politician, who met with Prince Sultan, chief of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), called on nations “to exert more pressure on Iran and impose tough sanctions.”
“We will have to look for a political solution to the Iranian problem because I don’t believe that the military conflict will be an alternative or a solution,” said Steinmeier.
On the question of Syria, he expressed regret that a group of Arab League observers have returned from the country. “This was in fact expected so far as the fate of the Arab League monitors were concerned,” he added, while showing solidarity with the Kingdom and the Gulf states’ stance on Syria.
Steinmeier, who was accompanied by Social Democrats, also met with members of the Shoura Council’s Saudi-German Parliamentary Friendship Committee. The Saudi side was led by Salem bin Ali Al-Qahtani, panel chairman.
On the bilateral front, the German opposition leader said: “There should be closer ties in the field of education. Germany is ready to transfer knowledge and high technology.” He suggested more Saudi students go to Germany for higher studies. About 15,000 Saudi students are currently on the rolls of German universities and colleges.
Referring to the UN Security Council vote on Syria, the SPD chief said: “The fall of the resolution shows the weakness of the UN Security Council.” On Yemen, he said his talks with the GCC chief focused on the country and how to speed up the process to ensure normalcy there. “What we need is a common understanding between different clans and tribes of Yemen…different interests will hinder the process of stabilization,” he added.
Steinmeier said Al-Zayani mentioned the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which must be considered seriously by the two sides. “I don’t understand why it is so difficult to sign the FTA,” said the German parliamentarian.
Steinmeier on Friday also signaled support for the aid measures for Greece. The German Parliament is scheduled to vote on the aid measures on Feb. 27. The late date is due to the fact lawmakers want to see Greece implement some of the required reforms before voting on the aid package. The EU should focus instead on immediate measures to restore confidence in financial markets, including boosting the size of the $610bn rescue facility for debt-laden Eurozone states, said Steinmeier.
He expressed his sadness over up to 150,000 job losses in Greece in the next three years in the public sector alone. “They are really suffering,” said the former foreign minister, adding there is readiness for solidarity in Europe but there are preconditions.
He also regretted the cancellation of a meeting of EU finance ministers that was to discuss Greece and the financial crisis in Europe. He insisted his party would back a “courageous” pan-European solution to the crisis in the Bundestag.
