HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al Muraikhi stressed that there is no winner in the Gulf crisis because it is a problem affecting people, families and tribal relations, as well as international relations.
In an interview with the Bulgarian newspaper 24 hours, HE Al Muraikhi said that the continuation of the situation will affect the entire world, not just the region, the Gulf region is considered an energy center, everything that happens affects everyone, the crisis happened suddenly and no one knows when and how it will end.
"We are not going to back down, politics is politics and business is business, Qatar has never violated any agreement with another country, even with the siege countries. We are supplying these countries with gas, and we are still doing so as a commitment to agreements". "We have not stopped supplies because we have commitments to the international economy and business, and now every country knows that as long as it has an agreement with us, it can trust us, and it is in our interest. " He added.
Al Muraikhi stressed that people can not be prevented from communicating with each other, not by shutting down a television or other channel. With smartphones people can keep up with events. "Our country may be small, but our people are civilized." he said.
HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs highlighted the importance of the Balkan countries, as he visited Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Romania, pointing to the strong relations between Qatar and these countries, especially that they have shown a positive position toward the Gulf crisis without any pressure from the State of Qatar.
Al Muraikhi stressed that he was in Africa and he saw countries under pressure from the siege countries. "These countries stipulated that projects and financial aid should be suspended if they did not sever their relations with Qatar. Fortunately, many countries rejected such treatment, and said that no one can influence them, because the right path is to sit at the negotiation table, he said.
HE the Minister appreciated the position of the Eastern European and Balkan countries, noting that the State of Qatar after June 2017, is no longer as it was before.
In response to a question about the meaning of this change, HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al Muraikhi said that Qatar has been importing goods from neighboring countries in GCC, but it can not continue after the siege and it will increase imports from other countries. Qatar is convinced that it will overcome the crisis through joint efforts, and it supports the initiative of HH Emir of Kuwait and praises the US administration's efforts to resolve the crisis.