Consiliul CSC
On 27 October the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis paid a visit to Egypt where he met his counterpart – the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The meeting commemorates 115 years since the initiation of bilateral relations between the two states.
Both leaders said they were pleased with the resurgence of relations between the two states, in sectors such as the economy and tourism, regional security and stability. The last meeting of the two leaders took place in 2019, when the president of Egypt was received with military honors at Cotroceni.
The main lines of discussions between the two referred to the economic relations between them, taking in the account the fact that since 2018 Egypt is the largest market from Africa and Middle East for Romanian products and also the main economic partner from this region .
In a press conference after the meting, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that the meeting marks the both countries intention in developing cooperation between them, particularly in the energy, investment, industry, trade, and tourism fields.
He also mentioned that they exchanged views on regional and international issues, especially those in the Middle East and East Mediterranean regions, that affects both countries. Regarding this large subject they discussed about the Libyan elections which are scheduled to be hold on 24 December this year. The president El Sisi emphasized the importance of holding the elections both for Libya and for the political-security stability in the area.
An other major point of the discussions was about the commitment of the Egyptian president to United Nations resolutions, including the Security Council’s decision “calling for the exit of all mercenaries and foreign troops from Libyan territories” to prevent the exploitation of “Libyan territories to serve the goals of other parties.” He also reaffirmed his support to the UN envoy’s efforts to reach a political settlement in Syria in line with the Geneva Declaration and Security Council Resolution 2245 by rejecting some parties’ attempts to impose the status quo either through violating Syria’s sovereignty or introducing demographic changes.
The independence of the Palestinian people was addressed on this occasion, both leaders concluding that it is a necessary aspect to ensure a democratic climate where the human rights and freedoms are respected in this region where are a lot of inter-ethnic violent conflicts.
They agreed to continue on their cooperation to combat the criminal phenomenon that affects both countries and others international actors, the focus being on illegal migration and terrorism.
They talked about the perspectives of holding the fourth meeting of the Egyptian-Romanian committee to promote economic, trade, and technical cooperation, regarding the forum as a link between businessmen and major companies from both countries to explore more investment opportunities and incentives offered by the Egyptian government to investors.
The Romanian president said he expects the joint committee to play a “critical” role in enhancing bilateral ties, expressing his aspiration that the new round would develop cooperation in the fields of defense, energy, agricultural, and other.