Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry praised on Monday 11/10/2021 relations between Egypt and the Visegrád Four (V4); namely Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, underlining that these ties are based on joint action, interests and mutual respect.
Speaking at a press conference, held in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, which is currently hosting the Visegrad Summit, Shoukry underlined historical relations that bind Egypt and these countries.
He also expressed Egypt’s keenness on consolidating ties with the V4 and opening up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation.
Shoukry thanked the Visegrád Group’s members for providing the opportunity to hold this meeting, whether at the ministerial or summit level.
He further noted that this summit supports the relationship bonds between Egypt and the group’s members to continue the political dialogue on regional and international conditions of mutual interest and to develop a common vision for challenges facing their countries.
Speaking at the press conference, the Egyptian foreign minister thanked his Hungarian counterpart for shoring up ties between Egypt and the Visegrád Group and providing the opportunity to hold this summit for the second time between Egypt and the heads of government of the group, under the presidency of Hungary.
Shoukry said the Visegrád countries are of great importance to Egypt, adding “We are looking forward to continuing with the fruitful cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding between Egypt and the Visegrád countries, particularly on the conditions in Egypt.”
He added today’s sessions took up a number of topics, topped by the issue of illegal immigration and efforts made by Egypt to fight this phenomenon and reduce its impact, not only on the receiving countries; whether the Visegrád countries or the EU countries, but also on the citizens of the migrant-exporting countries due to their exposure to difficulties and risks linked to illegal immigration, whether by organized crime gangs and human trafficking, or the dangers at the sea and drowning.
Since 2016, Egypt has taken all the necessary measures to fight illegal immigration, Shoukry said, noting that Egypt receives from 5 to 6 million migrants, whom the government provides with health and education services.
Egypt will not establish any kind of refugee camps on its lands, Shoukry made it clear, hoping that Egypt would continue to receive support in this regard.
The support is not commensurate with this challenge, taking into account the number of refugees that exceeds the population of some European countries, he added.
Egypt assumes this moral and humanitarian responsibility towards citizens from brotherly countries who seek to emigrate to it, he stressed.
Speaking at the press conference, the foreign minister said Egypt is seeking not only to prevent human trafficking, but also to develop the economic situation.
Egypt is also working on implementing major economic projects in areas exporting illegal immigration with a view to providing job opportunities, he added.
Egypt always seeks to establish a cooperative framework with the European partner countries on the issue of illegal immigration from a broader perspective that prevents resorting to illegal immigration as a way of earning a living, Shoukry said.
He said that support provided to Egypt in this regard is “too humble” when compared to the responsibility entrusted to it.
However, Egypt will continue to fight illegal immigration out of its humanitarian interest in eradicating this phenomenon, he added.
Shifting to the issue of terrorism, Shoukry said the challenge of terrorism led to dismantling a number of countries in the region and providing an opportunity for terrorist organizations to penetrate into them and establish bases to launch their operations.
This continues to place pressure on countries due to their sensitive internal conditions, a matter that constitutes a danger to the countries in the region, and Egypt’s European partners, he added.
He also stressed the necessity of dealing with extremist ideology via spreading the moderate thought, underlining the genuine effort exerted by Al Azhar Al Sharif and Dar al-Ifta on this score.
He concluded by underlining the need to deal with social media that is used to spread terrorism and the ideology of hatred and exclusion.
Source: State Information Service Egypt
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