HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi yesterday 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, al-Muraikhi said the continuation of the situation will affect the entire world, not just the region.
The Gulf region is considered an energy centre; everything that happens affects everyone, and the crisis happened suddenly and no one knows when and how it will end, he said.
"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," he said.
"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."
Al-Muraikhi said people cannot be prevented from communicating with each other by shutting down a television or other channels. With smartphones people can keep up with events.
"Our country may be small, but our people are civilised."
The minister 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 since they have shown a positive position towards the Gulf crisis without any pressure from Qatar.
He said 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."
The Gulf region is considered an energy centre; everything that happens affects everyone, and the crisis happened suddenly and no one knows when and how it will end, he said.
"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," he said.
"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."
Al-Muraikhi said people cannot be prevented from communicating with each other by shutting down a television or other channels. With smartphones people can keep up with events.
"Our country may be small, but our people are civilised."
The minister 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 since they have shown a positive position towards the Gulf crisis without any pressure from Qatar.
He said 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."