Egypt’s FM, EU High Representative discuss illegal migration, Sudanese crisis

CAIRO - 18 June 2023: The African mediation between Russia and Ukraine, illegal migration to Europe, and the Sudanese crisis were the main topics of discussions between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shouokry and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Sunday.

Borrell and his accompanying delegation is paying Egypt a three-day official visit, during which he will meet with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday.

During the meeting between Shourky and Borrell, the development of the bilateral relations was tackled, especially when it comes to cooperation in the renewable energy field and power linking between both sides, said Shoukry in a joint statement held on Sunday at the headquarters of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in Cairo.

In addition to this, they discussed the climate change-related issues as Egypt always seeks to achieve the sustainability.

As for the regional issues, both sides discussed the ways of reviving the peace process and end the Palestinian-Israeli cause via establishing the two-state solution on the borders of 1967 and Jerusalem its capital, added Shoukry.

In addition to this, they tackled other issues like the situation in Sudan and the illegal migration.

The Egyptian Minister added that the recent visit of the African delegation, in which Egypt participated, to Ukraine and Russia aimed to discuss ways to reach a solution to the military conflict and reach a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, referring to the negative effects that resulted on African countries economically.

Shoukry stated that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents were heard at the meeting in Kiev and Moscow, stressing that the African countries put forward their vision for a political solution to this crisis.

For his part, Borrell said that the bilateral relation with Egypt is strategically important to the Europeans, saying “the relations are good and can be improved. They are being growing and they have to continue forward. Today we exchanged the news on how to further and broaden and deepen the bilateral relations.”

Borrell highlighted the cooperation in energy, saying that the European union considers Egypt as a reliable partner and needs to continue and to accelerate the clean energy transition and to help Europeans to overcome the repercussions of the Ukraine-Russian war.

On the economic level, he added that the European Union stands ready to upgrade the already existing trade agreements, called for holding an Egyptian-European conference in order to boast the European investments in Egypt. Borrell added that it has been confirmed that both sides will continue deeper in the political dialogue on human rights.

“On migration, we have seen last week the horror of a shipwreck off the Greek coast and this demonstrates clearly that we have to double our efforts to it in place a sustainable, humane and safely resistance on migration,” said Borrell.