Bahrain will host the next round of high-level talks between foreign ministers from the GCC and European Union (EU) next year.

The decision was agreed this week at the 22nd GCC-EU joint ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, co-chaired by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Baroness Catherine Ashton.

During that event, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa called for a strengthening of ties between the GCC and EU, particularly given economic challenges facing the world.

"We should co-operatively address the challenges as two major members of the world's largest economic blocs through our strategic partnerships for the joint interests of our people," he said.

Shaikh Khalid described the meeting as significant given problems facing the region as a result of events in Syria and the inability of the international community to help resolve the crisis and stop the violence.

He added Bahrain was working with other GCC states to achieve security, stability and peace in the region, but said such efforts required support of the international community.