Cairo (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – President of the EU Parliament, Roberta Metsola, is preparing a visit to Egypt on 8 Jan in an apparent attempt to promote closer ties with Egypt and the EU.
European Parliament press said that President Roberta Metsola will meet the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt, Hanafy El Gebaly and the President of the Senate of Egypt, Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razeq. The development comes against the backdrop of strengthening EU-Egypt links; the talks continued regarding the EU macro-financial assistance to Egypt and the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and the region of neighbors.
The visit will provide scope for inter-parliamentary relations and organization for the next EU-Egypt Inter-Parliamentary Meeting in Cairo, EU macro-financial aid to Egypt package being currently negotiated by the European Parliament, migration flow and asylum issues.
President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola earlier engaged with Egypt, considering the prior discussions she might have had and has been present with in light of her present visit. These meetings and discussions in macro-financial assistance to Egypt from the EU included huge allocations aimed at reducing economic problems or handling migration situations. Metsola’s role represents involvement in decision-making for forming policies of the EU towards Egypt.
How has Egypt’s foreign minister engaged with Metsola?
Before her visit, there were invitations from Egyptian officials for Metsola to engage with Egypt, showing mutual interest in strengthening ties. For example, Egypt’s Foreign Minister had invited her previously to visit, showing that the two entities are still engaged in diplomatic engagement.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry extended a visit invitation to Metsola over the telephone on 2 August 2024 for her to visit Egypt. On the call, he congratulated her on her re-election. He spoke of his view that Egypt needs to develop further bilateral cooperation with the EU at this moment when challenges are taking a toll in the region. Some held that, for the first time, it made development between Egypt and the EU unprecedentedly special, particularly after status elevation into a comprehensive strategic partnership. Pursuing its aim to deepen cooperation over several issues on economic stability and security, comprehensive strategic partnership, in particular, zeroes in on.
