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Sisi Travels to Budapest to Participate in Visegrad Summit

In this June 1, 2016, file photo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)
In this June 1, 2016, file photo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)
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Sisi Travels to Budapest to Participate in Visegrad Summit

In this June 1, 2016, file photo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)
In this June 1, 2016, file photo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Budapest on Monday to participate in the Visegrad Group (V4) summit. The V4 comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

This is the second time since 2017 that Egypt participates in the summit.

Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said Egypt’s participation reveals the keenness to develop relations and address issues of mutual concern.

He added that the visit also reflects the deeply rooted ties between Cairo and Budapest.

Radi said the summit is expected to tackle a host of issues, including Egypt's role in the Middle East, cooperation in combating terrorism, illegal migration and energy security.

The talks will also address means of promoting trade, investment and tourism relations along with means to develop cooperation between Egypt and European Union countries, which are members of the Visegrad bloc.

The spokesman noted that Sisi is scheduled to hold talks with senior Hungarian officials, including President Janos Ader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on ways of bolstering political and economic ties, as well as international and regional cooperation.

The Visegrad Group was formed in 1991.

According to the State Information Service, Egypt was the first Middle Eastern and African country to take part in the summit.

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Lebanese PM's Office Denies US Asked Lebanon to Declare Unilateral Ceasefire with Israel

27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Lebanese PM's Office Denies US Asked Lebanon to Declare Unilateral Ceasefire with Israel

27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)

The office of Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati on Friday denied that the US had asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire, after two sources told Reuters that a US envoy had made the request to inject momentum into stalled talks on a deal to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
In a statement to Reuters, Mikati's office said the government's stance was clear on seeking a ceasefire from both sides and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between the two foes in 2006.

Earlier, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat said the US had asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel to revive stalled talks to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
They said the effort was communicated by US envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati this week, as the US stepped up diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The US embassy in Beirut did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sources said the US sought to persuade Beirut to take back some initiative in the talks, particularly given the perception that Israel will likely continue military operations that have already killed most of Hezbollah's leadership and destroyed much of the country's south.
Lebanon's armed forces are not involved in the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which began firing rockets at Israeli military sites a year ago in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.
Any effort to reach a ceasefire would need a green light from Hezbollah, which has ministers in Lebanon's cabinet and whose members and allies hold a significant number of seats in Lebanon's parliament.
Diplomats mediate with Hezbollah through the group's ally, Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri. Hezbollah has said it backs efforts by Berri to reach a ceasefire but says it must meet certain parameters, without providing details.
But a unilateral declaration was seen as a non-starter in Lebanon, the sources said, where it would likely be equated with a surrender.
DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE
Another diplomat told Reuters that Hochstein had made a similar proposal months ago to Mikati and Berri.
Hochstein told them that if Hezbollah unilaterally declared a ceasefire, he "could have something to present" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a diplomatic initiative.
"His exact words were, 'help me, help you," the diplomat said, adding that then-Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah rejected the idea. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Sept. 27 on Beirut's southern suburbs.
Despite its losses, Hezbollah has maintained that the Iran-backed group's chain of command is intact and its fighters have kept Israeli forces making ground incursions into Lebanon at bay.
The US has been pushing for a 60-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as a prelude to a fuller implementation of 1701, sources told Reuters this week.
Hochstein was in Israel on Thursday with White House envoy Brett McGurk, but they did not continue on to Lebanon.
Speaking about Lebanon on Thursday, Netanyahu said that "agreements, documents, proposals....are not the main point."
"The main point is our ability and determination to enforce security, thwart attacks against us, and act against the arming of our enemies, as necessary and despite any pressure and constraints. This is the main point," he said.