Euronews spoke with Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s Minister of State and Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy to the EU on the ongoing attacks against the country as Iran continues to fire barrages of dozens of missiles and drones in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.
“I think the priority right now is defending the country against these attacks and ensuring it doesn’t disrupt normal life, but of course, we have been preparing for various scenarios in a very turbulent region for decades, so these are not new plans,” said Nusseibeh.
Speaking to Euronews in an exclusive interview, Nusseibeh, who previously also served as Abu Dhabi’s Ambassador to the UN, underscored the country’s efforts at ensuring the safety of the roughly half-a-million Europeans who reside across the UAE.
“We have had contingency plans in place since prior to this point. We take the safety and security of the 500,000 European residents, for example, who reside here, and I know that’s a domestic audience that we are also speaking to, incredibly seriously.”
The Emirati official also noted that her country hopes to expand relations with Brussels further, indicating a desire to boost trade volume and strike a free trade agreement.
“And I think our trade ties with Europe at €65 billion a year is a robust signal that we are also open for investment. So we are negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union at the moment,” she added.
“European partners have come in to assist us and to also protect their own communities here in the UAE, and it is Iran that is very clearly isolated on the international stage.”
