CAIRO – Egypt’s Ambassador in Brussels Badr Abdel Ati has discussed with Olivér Várhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, positive developments in Egyptian-European relations and means to cement co-operation in the economic, development and social fields in light of President’s Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Brussels in February.
The Foreign Ministry said on its Facebook account Monday that Abdel Ati posted the European official during the meeting on the Egyptian government’s efforts to achieve sustainable development.
The Egyptian diplomat said Egypt faces some challenges as a result of regional developments and the economic impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis which directly affected Egypt’s food security and the global gas prices.
He said the Russian-Ukrainian crisis negatively affected the flow of tourism to Egypt as 31 percent of foreign tourists used to come to Egypt from Russia and Ukraine.
For his part, Várhelyi hailed the political leadership of Egypt and relations binding the two sides as well as continued contacts with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to push forward Egyptian-European relations.
They discussed Egypt’s efforts to achieve security and stability in the Middle East as well as efforts to fight terrorism and illegal migration as Egypt managed to control its borders and prevent boats carrying illegal migrants from leaving Egyptian shores since 2016.
The meeting also dealt with development projects carried out in Egypt as part of partnership between the two sides in addition to a visit by the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement to Cairo in the coming phase.
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