Barcelona: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty expressed appreciation for the growing cooperation between Egypt and Croatia in recent years during his meeting on Friday with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman. He praised the notable progress in bilateral relations. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Union for the Mediterranean ministerial meeting in Barcelona. Abdelatty stressed Egypt's keenness to further strengthen its partnership with Croatia, particularly in light of the recent high-level exchanges, most recently the Croatian President's visit to Cairo with his spouse to attend the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the minister also conveyed Egypt's appreciation for Croatia's continued support for the EU-Egypt strategic partnership, expressing confidence that this support will persist, especially as Croatia assumes the presidency of the MED-9 group next year. Abdelatty underscored the importance of developing economic and trade relations to reflect the distinguished ties between the two countries, noting promising opportunities for cooperation in trade, energy, and tourism. He highlighted the need to move forward with the proposal to operate a Ro-Ro shipping line between Egyptian and Croatian ports to facilitate the transport of Egypt's perishable agricultural products to Croatia and onward to Eastern Europe.
The two ministers emphasized the importance of following up on the results of the Croatian Prime Minister's visit to Cairo in February 2025, which launched a new phase of bilateral cooperation. They also agreed on working to activate the MoUs signed during the visit, particularly on investment, maritime links between Alexandria and Rijeka, and the executive program for cultural cooperation (2025-2028). Abdelatty also stressed the importance of convening the third session of the Joint Economic Cooperation Committee in Zagreb, building on the second session hosted by Cairo in April 2022, and preparing a business forum on its sidelines to explore new investment opportunities.
The ministers exchanged views on regional and international developments of mutual concern, especially the situation in the Gaza Strip, and the importance of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2803 on Gaza and moving forward with Phase II of President Trump's peace plan. Abdelatty underlined the need to enable the international stabilization force to fully perform its mandate to consolidate the ceasefire. He also reviewed ongoing preparations for the International Conference on Early Recovery and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.