President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received French minister of defence Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday in the presence of Egyptian Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi and the French ambassador to Egypt.
In the meeting, Al-Sisi praised Egypt and France’s strategic bilateral relations in all fields, but particularly in the military field, according to a statement released by presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef. Al-Sisi also mentioned the Mistral-class landing helicopter dock and the strong cooperation in this field.
Coordination between Egypt and France must be intensified in order to face common challenges that do not only affect the Middle East region, including terrorism, the president said.
Le Drian said that Egypt is considered to be one of the most important partners to France in the Middle East, saying that France supports the role of Egypt in the region and is striving to reach political solutions to the turmoil in many Arab countries. Le Drian also praised the enhancement of military cooperation between the two countries.
Al-Sisi and Le Drian discussed the latest developments in the region including Libya and Syria, during which the former again put an emphasis on the importance of international collaboration to reach political solutions.
Military cooperation between Egypt and France has been fostered over the past few years. Egypt signed a €5.2bn agreement to buy 24 French Rafale jet fighters in February 2015.
