By Manal Abdel Fattah
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with João Cravinho, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, on the sidelines of the 60th session of the Munich Security Conference.
According to the statements of Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesman and director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the talks dealt with the totality of the distinguished bilateral relations between Egypt and Portugal, and ways to push them forward, especially in light of the momentum witnessed by Egyptian-European relations. The Portuguese minister affirmed his country’s full support for the path of upgrading relations between Egypt and the European Union to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership, which transfers the level of bilateral cooperation to wider horizons.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman revealed that the talks dealt extensively with the developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip, where the Portuguese minister affirmed his country’s support for the important role played by Egypt and its tireless efforts to contain the crisis in the Strip, pointing to his emphasis during his contacts with his European counterparts the importance of adopting a unified European position demanding an immediate ceasefire, enhancing the access of humanitarian aid, and launching a serious political process for a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue on the basis of a two-state solution as the only way to restore stability in the region.
In the same context, Mr. Sameh Shoukry praised Portugal’s balanced and historically supportive positions of the Palestinian cause and Egyptian efforts to end the war in Gaza.
The official spokesman added that the two ministers stressed during the meeting the need to launch immediate and effective international action to stop Israeli movements to overrold the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and prevent the region from slipping into a wider conflict.
The two foreign ministers also agreed on the imperative imposed by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip to support the pivotal role of UNRWA in providing support to the people of the Gaza Strip, especially in light of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions to which they are exposed, which require the support of all international mechanisms working in the relief field.
At the end of the meeting, the two ministers agreed to continue consultations in order to continue to improve relations between the two friendly countries, as well as to continue to coordinate positions on crises affecting the security and stability of the region.
