Immigration, Libya, ME peace process at top of Italian FM’s agenda during Egypt visit

CAIRO – 21 January 2023: Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is scheduled to visit Egypt on Sunday, with topics including Libya, immigration issues, regional challenges, the Middle East peace process, the Ukraine war, and food safety on top of his agenda, Italian Agenzia Nova reported.

“Egypt and Turkey are two big countries that have influence in Libya,” Agenzia Nova quoted Tajani as saying as his Egypt visit comes in continuation of a series of visits that included Turkey and Tunisia earlier this month.

Tajani added that resolving the crisis in Libya will pave the way for resolving the illegal immigration issue.

“We must ensure that an electoral solution is reached in Libya, but this can be done with an agreement between the parties involved: Egypt and Turkey are parties involved, such as Italy,” the Italian foreign minister added in an interview with Italy’s Rai News TV channel on Friday.

He added that the Italian strategy includes “involving the countries that are decisive for the fight against illegal immigration.”

During his visit, Tajani is scheduled to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday, where they will hold a joint press conference. Tajani will also meet with the Italian business community is also planned, the Italian news website added.

Italy was Egypt's third export destination market in the period between January and October 2022, Nova said, citing data from the Infomercati Esteri website.

Trade between the two countries has increased by 7.6 percent in January-October 2022 compared to the previous year to reach 5.3 billion euros, according to the data.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry visited Italy to take part in the Med Dialogues held in Rome last month.

Also, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held talks with new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh.

During the meeting, the Egyptian and Italian leaders discussed fostering relations and coordination on a number of issues, including investment, energy, security in the Mediterranean, the Libyan crisis, and illegal immigration.