Saudi Arabia will support Ireland's bid for a United Nations Security Council seat because Irish diplomats do not "lecture" the Arab kingdom, the Saudi ambassador to Ireland has said.
Confirming the Saudi support, which follows lobbying by Dublin, Ambassador Nail Al-Jubeir said Irish diplomats "work quietly" and "don't lecture you", despite potential policy disagreements.
The Middle Eastern country has a controversial human rights record over the alleged use of torture, the practice of public executions, and increasing crackdowns on critics, journalists and women’s rights activists.
Last year Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, allegedly by Saudi operatives, in a killing that caused international controversy.
Ireland is competing with Norway and Canada for two of the rotating seats on the 15-member UN Security Council in 2021 and 2022, and is currently ahead in the race, Irish diplomats believe.
Saying Ireland “definitely has our vote” for the UN seat, Mr Al-Jubeir said: “We respect Ireland, because its policies are clear and unwavering, they don’t waver because of whom is in government.”
Speaking during a rare press conference, the ambassador said Saudi diplomats welcomed dealing with Irish officials, as “they may disagree with you, but they will not be rude, they don’t lecture you”.
Like Saudi diplomats in scores of international capitals, the ambassador announced a new visa scheme that will open the country up to tourists from 49 countries, including Ireland, the United States, and Britain.
Previously individuals travelling to the country required either a letter of invitation, or to be visiting on business. The new tourist visa scheme is a bid to ease the kingdom’s economic reliance on its massive oil industry.
The tourist visas can be secured online, or upon arrival at immigration control, and are valid for a three-month stay.
Mr Al-Jubeir said the new scheme marked a “historic day” for the Arab country, and said officials hoped the move would grow the tourist industry to up to 10 per cent of the country’s GDP.
Commenting on whether the country’s human rights record would deter Irish tourists visiting, Mr Al-Jubeir said: “We have nothing to be ashamed of, in terms of our record on anything”.
Saudi does have views that “everybody agrees with”, he said, so for those people who take issue with the country’s alleged human rights abuses, “maybe Saudi Arabia is not for them”, Mr Al-Jubeir said.
Criticising the negative portrayal of the Middle East receives in the media, Mr Al-Jubeir said this is one reason for traditionally low levels of tourism into the region.
“Some journalists here won’t like it, the problem with television is if it bleeds it leads,” he said. “Unfortunately what people see of the Middle East is what comes through the lens of a camera, and not person to person,” he said.
“Part of it is on us, as we really didn’t open it up, for us we never looked at tourism as an issue… It has moved a long way than it was in the past,” he said.
