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Syria: Taking Back Golan Heights is an Inalienable Right

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
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Syria: Taking Back Golan Heights is an Inalienable Right

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad reiterated his country’s firm right to recover the occupied Golan Heights, noting that the presence of the peacekeeping forces is not a substitute for ending the occupation.

Mikdad stressed the importance of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) operating in the Golan Heights under the mandate stipulated per the relevant Security Council resolution, according to State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA).

Mikdad met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, Mohamed Khaled el-Khiari.

During the meeting, the minister reiterated the Syrian government's support to UNDOF to fully implement the mandate entrusted to it, specifically monitoring the disengagement and detection of Israeli violations of the Separation of Forces Agreement represented by its reaccuring attacks on Syrian sovereignty.

He also condemned recent statements by the US administration, which ignored the United Nations resolutions recognizing the Golan Heights as an occupied Syrian Arab land.

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Arab World

Egypt Seeking to Activate its Strategic Partnership with Europe

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Egypt Seeking to Activate its Strategic Partnership with Europe

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty kicked off on Sunday a visit to Brussels and Strasbourg for talks with European officials aimed at following up on activating the strategic partnership between Cairo and the European Union.

A Foreign Ministry statement said that meetings during his first stop in Brussels aim to bolster cooperation with the EU. The FM is scheduled to hold talks with senior European officials, including head of the European Council and chief of foreign policy.

He will also meet with heads of major Belgian companies and members of the Egyptian diaspora.

Egypt and Europe are keen on strengthening and developing their relations to the level of “comprehensive strategic partnership,” as announced during a summit in Cairo in March that was attended by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the European Commission, and the presidents and prime ministers of Cyprus, Italy, Austria and Greece.

In Strasbourg, the home of the European Parliament, Abdelatty will meet with its speaker and heads of various parliamentary political groups and committees concerned with following up on the development of ties between Egypt and EU, added the Foreign Ministry statement.

Former Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi underscored to Asharq Al-Awsat the importance of the timing of the visit given the developments in the region and the success of international mediation, including Egypt’s, in reaching a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Egypt is hoping the EU would pressure Israel to forge ahead with peace and implement the two-state solution to support stability in the region, he added.

Egypt is also hoping to boost coordination with Europe over developments in the Horn of Africa, Red Sea and other regions, as well as in counterterrorism and in deepening bilateral ties, especially in the economy and investment, he continued.