Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received Prime Minister of Italy, Mrs. Giorgia Meloni, on the sidelines of the COP27 World Climate Summit.
The Spokesman for the Presidency said President El-Sisi welcomed the Italian Prime Minister’s visit and her participation in the Climate Summit. The President congratulated her once again on assuming her post recently, expressing his appreciation for the extended bilateral relations between the two countries. He looked forward for Prime Minister Meloni’s visit to Egypt to give new impetus for developing these relations, which are based on deep historical ties with political, economic, security and cultural dimensions.
The Italian Prime Minister affirmed her country's mutual keenness to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Egypt, which would open up prospects for construction and achieve the common interests of the two friendly countries and peoples. Prime Minister Meloni stressed that for Italy and the European continent Egypt represented a pivotal pillar for security and stability in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin.
The meeting focused on ways to develop economic, trade and investment relations, in addition to joint industrial cooperation with Italy. Joint cooperation in the file of energy security was also discussed. It is considered one of the most important paths of partnership between the two sides during the past years, particularly through the partnership with Eni company in the field of natural gas. The talks also touched on the possibility of implementing electricity interconnection with Italy, to capitalize on the rich and diverse capabilities in Egypt, which will contribute to addressing the challenge in Europe and most world countries to deal with the energy crisis.
Visions were also exchanged regarding coordinating efforts between Italy and Egypt as a leading partner of the European Union in the fight against illegal immigration. The Italian Prime Minister commended Egypt’s efforts in this regard, which contributed to preventing the departure of any illegal immigration boat from Egyptian coasts since 2016. President El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's readiness to cooperate with the relevant Italian agencies in this regard, based on Egypt's full commitment to combating this phenomenon.
The meeting tackled the latest developments in issues related to Mediterranean security, mainly the Libyan file. The two sides agreed on the need to work to preserve the unity and sovereignty of Libya, and push for holding presidential and parliamentary elections, preserving national Libyan institutions, and strengthening the role of security authorities in combating terrorism.
The talks also touched on the issue of the Italian student “Regeni “, and cooperation in order to reach the truth and achieve justice.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, The Arab Republic of Egypt.
