Photo: Åsmund Weltzien, NUPI
Photo: Åsmund Weltzien, NUPI

PRIO had the honor of co-hosting, with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), a roundtable with HM King Abdullah II of Jordan, who visited Norway 12-14 March. The roundtable focused on issues related to peace and security in the Middle East, covering regional security, refugee migration and integration, women's role in society, and a range of other issues. Foreign minister Ayman Safadi accompanied HM King Abdullah II in the meeting, which included ten researchers from the two institutes, including PRIO director Henrik Urdal and NUPI director Ulf Sverdrup. For PRIO, this was a welcome occasion to follow up on discussions held in Jordan on the occasion of the state visit of HM King Harald V of Norway in March 2020, when PRIO and the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Amman co-hosted the seminar 'Preserving Spaces for Dialogue in the Middle East'.