President Al-Alimi to European Institute of Peace: Treating Houthis as Normal Actor Perpetuates War

  Riyadh

His Excellency President Dr. Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, President of the Presidential Leadership Council, affirmed that the Yemeni people aspire to a long-term, sustainable peace that does not bypass the state or reproduce violence anew.

During his meeting today, Tuesday, with a delegation from the European Institute of Peace, headed by Ambassador Hisham Youssef, President Al-Alimi stressed that “there can be no sustainable peace without one state, one weapon, and one decision.”

He added that “the European experience has taught us that peace which bypasses the state is merely a temporary truce, and that all peace efforts that ignore this fact ultimately end by reproducing war.”

The President pointed to Europe’s deep experience in peacebuilding after devastating wars, describing it as a laboratory for understanding how to rebuild states after division and how to deter ideological extremism.

He reiterated that the Houthi terrorist militias are not a party to a conventional conflict, but rather a closed ideological group whose project is based on genealogical discrimination, a claimed divine right to rule, and the denial of equal citizenship.

In this context, President Al-Alimi said: “Here the European comparison becomes evident. Just as Europe dealt with Nazism and fascism as existential threats rather than political opinions, treating the Houthis as a normal actor is a structural error that threatens peace.”

He added that the peace equation must therefore entail ending ideological weaponization, dismantling the logic of lineage and discrimination, ensuring equal citizenship, and establishing a state that protects all.

The President of the Presidential Leadership Council emphasized that any peace lacking enforceable guarantees would reproduce violence. He stated that “the required guarantees include dismantling the militia’s military and ideological structures, criminalizing sectarianism and racism in the constitution and law, preventing the legitimization of faits accomplis imposed by force, and supporting state institutions economically and in security terms.”

President Al-Alimi underscored Yemen’s need to move from managing conflict to addressing its root causes. He noted that peace is not achieved through a balance between a state and a militia, but through empowering the state and ending the sources and cycles of violence.

He reaffirmed that Yemenis do not reject peace, but rather reject a peace that is deficient in statehood and dignity. “They want a peace like Europe’s—one that endures forever, not an agreement that collapses after two years,” he said.

The President also reviewed the transformations Yemen has witnessed in the recent period, foremost among them the transition from normalizing division to rebuilding the authority of the state, the formation of a new government, the end of dual power structures, the unification of security decision-making, and improvements in services. He stressed that these changes are not merely administrative measures, but essential prerequisites for any genuine peace.

President Al-Alimi commended the efforts of the European Institute of Peace and its role in bringing together Yemeni political components, tribal leaders, and stakeholders in important discussions on security, peace, the environment, and other issues.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Yahya Al-Shuaibi, Director of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic.