After years of strained relations, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are in the process of restore diplomatic relations and reopening the closed embassies in the coming weeks.
The development in relations between Qatar and the UAE comes more than two years after the signing of the Al-Ula agreement, which ended the Gulf crisis and the blockade of Qatar.
“At present, the activation of diplomatic ties, which will include the reopening of embassies, is under process between both countries,” a UAE official said in a statement in response to a question from Reuters.
“Work is underway between the Qatari and Emirati teams to reopen the respective embassies as soon as possible, exact date to be announced upon the finalization of the process,” Qatar’s International Media Office told CNBC in a statement.
It is noteworthy that in mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar, claiming its support for terrorism, which Doha has repeatedly denied.
Riyadh and Cairo were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021 following a Saudi-led Al-Ula agreement to end the dispute, while Bahrain announced last week that it had decided to restore diplomatic relations.
All countries, with the exception of Bahrain, have already restored trade and travel links with Qatar in early 2021, while the UAE has said it will take some time to resume diplomatic relations.
