Egypt and the European Union (EU) discussed on Sunday ongoing co-operation for combating the phenomenon illegal immigration and countering terrorism, as well as boosting European investments in the country.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received the visiting Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), and Commissioner for Promoting the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, and an accompanied delegation.
The two sides exchanged views on a number of issues of priority for both, foremost of which are efforts to counter illegal immigration, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.
Minister Shoukry urged moving cooperation on the issue from the technical level to a high political level that is likely to help realize common interests, in line with the principle of partnership in burden-sharing, spokesman Abu Zeid said.
The foreign minister also reviewed Egypt’s vision on dealing with of illegal migration, which is based on an overall approach that is extended to cover the developmental and social aspects rather than being confined to condensing the issue into just the security handling, the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Egypt is now hosting about 9 million refugees and immigrants, the minister said, adding that Egypt is looking forward to further European support to stem the flow of illegal migration across the borders.
For his part, the European Commissioner voiced the EC’s appreciation of Egypt’s efforts on illegal migration and stressed the EU’s readiness to provide more backing to Egypt in light of the priority that the country represents for the European Union, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
The EC Deputy President also indicated interest in regulating the movement of trained workforce from Egypt to the EU, providing them with the necessary education and training to qualify them for the European market, thereby contributing to a reduction in the flow of illegal migration, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
Source: The Egyptian Gazette
