Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the annual meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Manama, Bahrain, on Wednesday, marking a rare invitation for a non‑GCC leader as the bloc seeks to deepen economic and strategic ties with Europe.

The gathering is set to bring together the six GCC members: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, which is hosting the summit for the eighth time. 

Sultan Haitham bin Tarik will lead the Omani delegation, and Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah will head Kuwait’s group. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as vice president, deputy prime minister and chairman of the Presidential Court, will represent the UAE. Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has received an official invitation, although Doha has not yet announced who will attend on its behalf. Saudi Arabia has also not released details on the composition of its delegation. 

One of the more notable elements of this year’s summit is the participation of Meloni. The annual gathering is normally limited to the heads of state and government of member states. Invitations to outside leaders are rare and only a small group have attended over the past two decades, among them Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2023), Chinese President Xi Jinping (2022), former British Prime Minister Theresa May (2016), former French President Francois Hollande (2015) and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2007).