National newspapers published on Sunday the second and last part of their interview with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, which was conducted on Friday and touched upon several political and economical issues.
In the second part, Al-Sisi tackled Egypt’s international affairs and the political situations of Arab countries. He was also asked about several issues related to domestic affairs.
Al-Sisi denied that any tension with Saudi Arabia following Egypt’s vote for the Russian resolution in the UN security council, adding that bilateral relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia are rather strong and how the issue was portrayed in the media and on social media was exaggerated.
The president said Egypt’s relations with foreign countries remain balanced, stable, and open. He also criticised attacks by foreign media outlets that Egypt has received over the past three years.
The president said that Egyptian policy has only one face, and it doesn’t intervene in other countries’ internal affairs or conspire against anyone. He further continued that some factions want to destroy the Egyptian state.
Regarding the warnings that were issued earlier this month by foreign embassies, in which they warned their nationals about attending large gatherings due to security concerns, Al-Sisi said that the embassies were contacted following their warnings. However, the embassies stressed again that the statements were a precautionary measure.
Al-Sisi said that Egyptian-US relations are strong in different fields, and discussed his meetings with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during his participation in the UN general assembly. Al-Sisi used the meetings as a chance to expose the candidates to the situation in Egypt, so that the winner of the presidential elections can better understand the region when they take office.
The president further went on to say that the ties between Egypt and Russia are rather strong, and his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin is good. Regarding the resumption of direct flights, Al-Sisi said that there is continuous coordination and cooperation for quick the resumption of flights.
In response to Egypt’s vote for two different resolutions in the UN security council, one that was suggested by France and the other by Russia, Al-Sisi said that voting for the two resolutions was not contradictory, but rather the common element between the two was an immediate ceasefire and allowing humanitarian aid access to the Syrian people. “Regardless of who filed the resolution, why would I oppose a decision that is in the interest of the Syrian people?”
