Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Monday France’s secretary of state for the ministry of foreign affairs Jean-Marie Le Guen. The latter invited Egypt to join the Africa Summit-France that will be held in Mali in January.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, official spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zaid said that Shoukry discussed Egypt’s vision regarding combating terrorism, including the importance of curbing financial and military aid from reaching militants.
Shoukry also stressed the importance of balanced religious discourse in combating terrorism. Le Guen praised Egypt’s role in fighting terrorism and extremism.
Both Shoukry and Le Guen said that bilateral relations between Egypt and France should deepen to include political, military, and economic ties.
They both discussed Egyptian-European relations following Shoukry’s meeting with the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Federica Mogheirni last week on the sidelines of the Arab League and EU ministerial meeting.
Shoukry said during the meeting with Le Guen that Egypt is keen on encouraging French investments in Egypt after reviewing the Egyptian economic reform programme with the French minister and the recent economic measures that have been undertaken by the Egyptian government for development.
The foreign minister further discussed the political situation in Syria, Libya, and Iraq. Shoukry praised France’s role in pushing talks between Palestine and Israel in order to reach an inclusive solution to the conflict.
The bilateral relations between Egypt and France, though not particularly tense, have been unstable since the crash of a flight en route from France to Egypt. Mutual accusations have been voiced, as Egypt insists that the crash occurred due to the lack of security measures at France’s airport, while France said that failures in regular maintenance to the aeroplane caused the crash.
