EU-GCC summit planned for 24 October in Riyadh is postponed, Council of the EU says

The second summit between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was planned for 24 October 2026 in Riyadh, has been postponed, the Council of the EU announced on 15 October. The notice says a new date will be announced “in due course”.

The announcement is short. It is headed “Rescheduling of the EU-GCC Summit” and, in the summary the Council published, it gives no reason for the postponement and no indication of when the meeting might now take place. Any link to events in the region would therefore be speculation, and none is made by the Council.

What the notice says

The Council describes the meeting as the second EU-GCC summit and confirms its original venue as the Saudi capital. It was due to take place nine days after the notice was published. Beyond the postponement and the promise of a new date, the notice contains no details about the agenda, the delegations or who took the decision.

The regional setting

The announcement follows a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia. The UN Secretary-General strongly condemned a Houthi attack on Riyadh airport, which Geopolitiki reported as Riyadh: 12 dead and 309 injured in Houthi missile attack on King Khalid airport; Rubio says an American is among the victims. Saudi Arabia has since said that Iran is encouraging the attacks, as set out in Saudi Arabia: “Iran is encouraging” the Houthi attacks on Riyadh – the airport deaths are “war crimes”.

A further night of attacks was reported on 18 October, according to the Saudi side: Saudi Arabia: two Houthi ballistic missiles toward Khamis Mushait and three drones over Riyadh and the Eastern Province in one night.

The Council’s notice does not mention any of this. Geopolitiki will report the new date once the Council or the Gulf Cooperation Council publishes it.