Sisi, Macron Discuss Libya, Coronavirus: Bassam Rady

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, discussing Libya and other global and regional issues, according to the Egyptian presidential spokesperson

“President Sisi and his French Counterpart President Macron discussed means of joint cooperation regarding the crisis of the novel Corona virus, whether at the bilateral level or at the level of the African continent based on what was discussed Friday in the African mini summit,” said Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady. 

During the African mini summit, President Macron participated to support the continent's capabilities in this field by activating the role of international partners towards African countries in the crisis of combating the spread of the virus.

"The phone conversation between the two leaders, Sisi and Macron, also tackled a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation frameworks between the two countries, as well as the exchange of visions and views towards some regional files of common interest, most notably the follow-up of developments in the Libyan issue.

In August 2019, Rady manifested that the Egyptian president asserted Egypt’s stance which supports stability, security and unity of Libya and empowerment of Libyan people, in addition to Egypt’s solid support to the Libyan National Army (LNA) in its war against terrorism.

Cairo affirmed its rejection to all forms of foreign intervention into Libya’s domestic affairs.

On his part, the French president confirmed necessity of solving Libya’s present dilemma which threatens the region’s security. Sisi and Macron agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation in this regard.

Rady noted that the phone conversation also included talks about a number of issues with common interests between Cairo and Paris.

In June, 2017, France’s foreign minister said he had beefed up security ties with Egypt, which was the “central element” to ensuring regional stability as the two countries seek to break the political impasse in neighboring Libya.

On January 28, 2019, Macron paid Egypt a three-day visit, during which the bilateral relations, as well as the crises in Syria, Libya, Palestine, and Africa were discussed.