Shoukry: Egypt Developing Partnership with EU, Address Regional Challenges

On Monday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated in the third ministerial meeting of the European Union (EU)–Southern Neighbourhood, a body that covers the EU's relations with several Southern-Mediterranean countries.

In his speech at the third ministerial assembly of the European Union and the southern neighborhood in Barcelona, Shoukry indicated: "Egypt has continued to develop its partnership with the EU to address the challenges posed by the world economic issues and the regional topics at hand."

In the same context, he asserted Egypt's commitment to work with its partners within Euro-Mediterranean cooperation towards greater integration in accordance with the vision adopted by the countries of the Union since its inception in 2008.

Shoukry also took this occasion to underscore Egyptian priorities for cooperation with the European side in many fields based on joint ownership.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also emphasized the importance of increasing European investments in Egypt and the countries of the southern neighborhood as well as enhancing the access of these exports to European markets to support their efforts in achieving development goals.

On the sidelines of Barcelona meetings, Shoukry also met with the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and  Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, to build on the latest discussions between them in Cairo last Oct on ways of fostering the partnership between Egypt and the EU.