The European Union Council of Ministers on Monday adopted a decision to appoint former Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio as the 27-member bloc"s special envoy to the Gulf. The tasks of the new envoy will be to further develop a stronger, comprehensive and more strategic EU partnership with the countries in the Gulf region, said the Council in a statement. He will be supporting the EU High Representative Josep Borrell in the implementation of the foreign policy and security aspects of the EU joint communication on a Strategic Partnership with the Gulf of May 18, 2022, and the related Council conclusions of June 20, 2022. The EUSR will seek best ways to contribute to the stability and security of the region by engaging and supporting dialogue and long-term regional solutions with individual Gulf partners and relevant regional organizations, it said. He will equally support and cooperate with the Council and the European Commission to help ensure the consistency of the EUI"s external action in the region, and contribute to increase the visibility and understanding of the role of the EU. Di Maio will take up his duties on June 1, with an initial mandate of 21 months. Di Maio served as minister of foreign affairs of Italy from 2019 to 2022. He held previously the positions of deputy prime- minister, minister of economic development and trade, minister of labor and social policies, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the European Union Affairs Committee in the 17th Italian legislature. EU Special Representatives are proposed by the High Representative to promote the EU"s policies and interests in specific regions and countries, and provide the EU with an active political presence in those areas. “The appointment of Luigi Di Maio as the new EU special representative for the Gulf is an ambitious mandate,” commented Borrell. “I welcome the Council"s decision to appoint Luigi Di Maio as the first EU Special Representative for the Gulf. “Now he has an ambitious mandate to complete: to help bring the EU partnership with the Gulf countries to a new strategic level, to mutual benefit,” reads Borrell"s message. — Agencies