UAE FM: Int’l community should work together to protect energy transportation

UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed says the international community should work together to protect shipping and secure energy transportation.

“We are in a complex region that has many resources, whether gas or oil, that are necessary for the world. We want the flow of said resources to remain safe, and to ensure the stability of the global economy. We must also secure our peoples and our economies,” the minister affirmed at a press conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday.

Earlier last month, four commercial vessels were targeted by “acts of sabotage” near the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates, the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that there were no victims.

“So far, we have not decided that there is enough evidence to point to a specific state in relation to the attack on tankers off the coast of the UAE,” the minister added.

He noted that the area in which the incidents took place has vital economic and geopolitical significance and that interruptions like the four attacks can lead to impeding the global supply of oil.

According to the UAE official, actors that seek to destabilize the Middle East and North Africa with their backwards, extremist stances, impede the region’s ultimate development goals.

“Real regional security and stability will only be attained when regional actors work together. Our region is the main energy supplier to the world; our safety and security is key to ensuring prosperity and stability for all,” he said.

(With WAM)