Egyptian President Meets With Austrian Chancellor, EU Council President - Statement

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2018) Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Sisi met with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and European Council President Donald Tusk on Sunday in order to discuss boosting cooperation between Cairo and Brussels, Sisi's administration said in a press release obtained by Sputnik.

The meeting was also attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Egypt's Chief of Abbas Kamel, according to the statement.

"During the meeting, the president [Sisi] expressed Egypt's desire to strengthen various aspects of cooperation with the European Union in light of the various strong ties that unite the sides, not to mention the common interests in solving the problems that the Mediterranean region faces," the statement reads.

In turn, Tusk and Kurz expressed readiness to continue coordination and meetings with Egypt to discuss issues of common interest, as well as in order to strengthen and promote cooperation with Egypt at various levels.

The Austrian chancellor and the European Council president also praised the efforts of Egypt in the fight against illegal migration.

The press release noted that the sides also touched upon the issue of coordination between the European Union and Arab countries in the field of countering regional challenges and threats, as well as the matter of preparations for the EU-Arab League summit.

Last week, Tusk said that he would propose to the EU leaders during an informal summit in Salzburg to hold a joint summit with the Arab League in Egypt in February.