Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry attends the European-Arab Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. February 4, 2019. Press Photo
CAIRO - 4 February 2019: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry affirmed on Monday the importance of capitalizing on the mutual interests between the Arab World and Europe, and developing cooperation in alignment with historic ties.
Shokry arrived in Brussels on Sunday to participate in the European-Arab Ministerial Meeting. Egypt is scheduled to host the first Arab-European summit on February 24-25.
In his speech, minister Shokry stipulated that the Palestinian Cause is pivotal to the Arab people and that resolving the issue would achieve stability in the region. The minister affirmed Egypt’s stance on the Palestinian Cause and its support to the rights of the Palestinian people. Shokry added that Egypt would pursue its efforts to unify Palestinian factions and alleviate the suffering of the people on Palestinian territories.
The minister expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the efforts deployed by the European Union to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
Shokry asserted Egypt’s support for political solutions, and counter terrorism measures on all scales in Syria and Libya in order to preserve the unity and sovereignty of their territories.
The minister said that the Arab World looked forward to the European support to achieve comprehensive development projects.
Shokry highlighted the challenges faced by the region including illegal migration. The minister said that Egypt hosted five million refugees from different countries, and that the approach to the reasons behind the phenomenon must be more comprehensive to come up with effective solutions. He added that required more effective contribution from the European side away from political compromises.
The minister stressed the importance that the Arab and European parties abide by a comprehensive approach to protect human rights including the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. That is in addition to the right to assume development and combat hate speech and racism.
Shokry added that the core of human rights preservation is combating terrorism by addressing its economic and social aspects, and facing the extremist ideologies of terrorist groups. The minister urged the adoption of mechanisms to deter terrorism financing, and taking strict measures against the states and entities that directly or indirectly back that phenomenon. The minister said that the backing of certain states to terrorist organizations had doubled the world’s damages.
CAIRO - 4 February 2019: On the sidelines of the European-Arab Ministerial Meeting held in Brussels on Monday, Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry held bilateral meetings with Greek, Belgium, Kuwaiti, Spanish, and Romanian counterparts to discuss development of relations and continuous coordination upon matters of mutual interest.
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