FactBox: Arab-EU Summit Brings for 1st Time Top Leaders

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, Feb. 21 (SEE) – The Arab-EU summit will bring together for the first time heads of state or government from both sides. EU Council President Donald Tusk will co-chair the summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Tusk will represent the EU along

with President Jean-Claude Juncker. Leaders from both sides will seek to

strengthenArab-European ties.

They

will also address a wide range of issues and common challenges, such as multilateralism,

trade and investment, migration, security and the situation in the region.

EU Council President Donald Tusk and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi- Archive Photo

The

meeting is expected to start in the afternoon on Sunday 24 February and end

with a press conference in the afternoon on Monday 25 February. It will take

place in the International Congress Centre in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. 

Ahead of the summit, foreign ministers from the EU and the Arab league gathered in Brussels for a ministerial meeting.

On Feb. 16, Sisi said that the Arab-European summit is a key step to develop relations between the two sides.

Describing the Arab-European

neighborhood as historical, Sisi asserted that the Arab world is Europe's first

partner not only at the economic level but also in various domains.

Egyptian and EU flags- Archive Photo

Following his speech at the Munich

Security Conference, the president said that stability and security in the Arab

region have their impacts on Europe and vice versa, citing the migration flow

to Europe by citizens fleeing regional conflicts as an example.

On his part, Romanian President

Klaus Iohannis, the current head of the European Union thanked Sisi for

organizing the Arab-European summit at this time.

The Romanian president said that

deeper cooperation is needed between the two sides, adding that it is time for

holding a summit that brings together the European and Arab leaders.

Iohannis expressed optimism that

all regional problems, including migration and economic and security

cooperation could be tackled via joint action and dialogue.

He highlighted the special

importance of the coming Arab-European summit in light of Romania's historical

and excellent ties with the Arab world, asserting that such relations represent

key pillar in his country's foreign policy.

Germany's

Merkel to Partake in Arab-EU Summit

Director General for Asia, Middle

East and South America Affairs at the German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Claudia Warning said Angela Merkel will take

part in the Arab-European Summit in Sharm El Sheikh. 

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi (R) meets with the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Cairo, Egypt on March 2, 2017- Press Photo

The official also highlighted the

noticeable development of economic and trade relations between Cairo and

Berlin, adding that the volume of trade exchange recorded less than 6 billion

euros in 2017.

Germany exports to Egypt includes

machinery, automobiles, she said, adding that the Egyptian exports to Germany

includes petroleum, natural gas, vegetables, clothes, minerals, textiles,

electricity, plastic products, chemicals and glass products.

She expressed the German

companies' resolve to offer support to Egypt in the fields of energy and

infrastructure expansion, noting that Siemens Company is an important partner

for Egypt in several mega energy projects, citing the establishment of three

energy stations with a capacity of 14,400 megawatts in the New Administrative

Capital, Beni Suef and Burullus.

Regarding the role of Germany in

enhancing investments in Egypt in view of the new investment law, the German

official asserted that her country is really interested in the positive

economic progress in Egypt and would continue its support in this regard. 

Fatwa House Lauds Arab-EU

Counter-Terrorism Efforts

Egyptian Fatwa House stressed that

the Arab-European Summit is deemed a unique transformation in reaching consensus

on global issues, most notably mutual efforts to counter terrorism and

extremism.

The House's statement issued on

Thursday described the summit as a "historic meeting", which shall

uncover the Arab-European rapprochement in economic, security and social

dimensions.

"Increasing

threats and common challenges resulted in terrorism and fundamentalism in the

Arab and European worlds will unite the two parties," the statement added.

The Arab

League and the European Union are obliged to declare a war against terrorism

and launch a strategic dialogue.