European Union postpones its Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia as Riyadh airport stays closed after the Houthi strikes

A summit meant to show European solidarity with the Gulf has become the latest casualty of the Houthi campaign against Riyadh.

The European Union said on Thursday it had postponed its summit with Gulf states, which was due to be held in Saudi Arabia on October 24, as Houthi attacks raised security concerns in the kingdom. The EU gave no detailed reason and said only that a new date would be announced in due course. It said it still sees great strategic importance in the relationship and remains committed to deepening the partnership.

The practical obstacle is the airport. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, where summit dignitaries were supposed to land, remains closed after the strikes last weekend, in which 13 people were killed and hundreds wounded in an attack claimed by Yemen's Iran aligned Houthis. Aviation notices keep the airport closed until at least October 17, and that deadline does not guarantee reopening. Reporting on cancellations counts more than 3,100 departures from Saudi airports cancelled or not operating between October 8 and 14, with nearly nine in ten Riyadh departures affected on October 13, as of October 15.

The postponement lands on a calendar Riyadh built to project a capital open for business: the summit on October 24 and the Future Investment Initiative conference later in the month, which Saudi Arabia now plans in part as a remote and hybrid event. A war that keeps the capital's airport shut does the opposite of that work, which is the pressure the Houthis said they intended when they vowed on Wednesday to keep attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities.