Egypt and the European Union (EU) discussed on Sunday ongoing co-operation for combating the phenomenon illegal immigration and countering terrorism, as well as boosting European investments in the country.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shouky received the visiting Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), and Commissioner for Promoting the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, and an accompanied delegation.
The two sides exchanged views on a number of issues of priority for both, foremost of which are efforts to counter illegal immigration, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.
Minister Shoukry urged moving cooperation on the issue from the technical level to a high political level that is likely to help realize common interests, in line with the principle of partnership in burden-sharing, spokesman Abu Zeid said.
The foreign minister also reviewed Egypt’s vision on dealing with of illegal migration, which is based on an overall approach that is extended to cover the developmental and social aspects rather than being confined to condensing the issue into just the security handling, the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Egypt is now hosting about 9 million refugees and immigrants, the minister said, adding that Egypt is looking forward to further European support to stem the flow of illegal migration across the borders.
For his part, the European Commissioner voiced the EC’s appreciation of Egypt’s efforts on illegal migration and stressed the EU’s readiness to provide more backing to Egypt in light of the priority that the country represents for the European Union, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
The EC Deputy President also indicated interest in regulating the movement of trained workforce from Egypt to the EU, providing them with the necessary education and training to qualify them for the European market, thereby contributing to a reduction in the flow of illegal migration, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
The spokesman added that the talks between Minister Shoukry and Deputy EC President Commissioner Schinas also touched upon ways of further bolstering the economic ties between Egypt and the EU.
In this context, Shoukry highlighted the significance of the investment component of cooperation and outlined the promising investment opportunities now existing in Egypt.
The minister also referred to the a host of promising projects for cooperation between Egypt and the EU member states, including in the foremost the electrical interconnectivity schemes between Egypt and north Mediterranean countries.
He urged the EU to extend political support to such projects in the interest of both sides as well as to enhance energy security in Europe, spokesman Abu Zeid said.
Schinas, for his part, reiterated the EU’s support for the various activities that that aim to promote investment in Egypt and encouraging the European companies and banks to increase investments in the country.
International challenges of common interest, foremost of which are the promotion of food security and combating terrorism, were also considered in the Shoukri-Shinhas talks, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
In this regard, Minister Shoulri stressed the importance of the European Commission strengthening funding provided to partners from developing countries most affected by the current global crises.
Minister Shoukry also lauded the existing cooperation between Egypt and the European Union in the field of combating terrorism at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
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