Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry emphasized Thursday the importance of building on the recent momentum of Egyptian-Italian relations, and on increasing the frequency of mutual visits by senior officials from both countries.
During his meeting in Cairo with Stefania Craxi, chairwoman of the Italian Senate's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, Shoukry tackled cooperation with Rome in a number of areas that constitute a common challenge, mainly the illegal migration across the Mediterranean.
The Egyptian FM briefed Craxi on Egypt’s vision to deal with this phenomenon.
“The vision is based on a comprehensive approach that covers the development, social and security aspects of illegal migration,” according to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid.
The spokesman said Shoukry also tackled efforts to combat terrorism through drying up sources of terrorism funding and dealing with the economic, social and religious roots of this phenomenon.
The FM then emphasized the importance of enhancing Egyptian-Italian relations and increasing the mutual visits by senior officials from the two countries.
In this regard, he pointed out to the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Egypt and her meeting with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during the latest UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, as well as Shoukry’s visit to Rome and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s visit to Cairo last month.
Also at the meeting, the FM affirmed the historic and deep Cairo-Rome relations, highlighting Egypt’s appreciation of common cultural heritage and the extending of communication between both countries’ peoples.
The officials also touched on ways to propel bilateral cooperation in a way that helps achieve optimal utilization of the great capabilities available in both countries.
Craxi underscored the priority given by her country to advancing cooperation with Egypt in various fields in light of the friendship between the two countries.
She also praised Egypt's National Strategy for Human Rights and the progress made in its implementation, noting that it contributes to improving the lives of Egyptian citizens and “enhancing the full enjoyment of their basic rights.”
Meanwhile, Shoukry said the Egyptian government is keen to facilitate Italian investment flows to promising sectors in the Egyptian market as well as to strengthen the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS)’s involvement in national development projects in the country, especially the Decent Life Presidential Initiative.
At the meeting, the Egyptian Minister and Craxi also exchanged visions and viewpoints on a number of regional and international files of mutual concern, mainly the Ukrainian crisis and its negative repercussions on the economic conditions in developing countries, which necessitates concerted international efforts to resolve the crisis as soon as possible, the spokesman said.
The two sides then discussed the current escalation in the Palestinian territories, in addition to the Libyan crisis.
In this regard, Shoukry highlighted Egypt’s efforts to attain settlement for those crises as well as to restore stability and peace in the region.
