EU deepens Bahrain ties as dual-citizen prisoners languish

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who shared a prison cell with the Swedish-Bahraini clergyman al-Muqdad in 2011, argues that the bloc’s diplomatic pivot ignores a reality of systemic repression. Now the director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Alwadaei suggests that Brussels is prioritizing trade and security cooperation over the plight of dissidents. Organizations like Amnesty International are actively lobbying both Stockholm and Brussels to condition any new accords on the release of political prisoners.

Since July, EU negotiators have engaged with the Al Khalifa government on a wide-ranging strategic framework. Official statements have yet to signal that the bloc intends to leverage this partnership to address the detention of activists or the ongoing crackdown on civil society. Reports indicate that the state’s repressive measures extend to minors as young as 15 and the targeted harassment of activists' families, a fate shared by three of Alwadaei’s own relatives.