Ashraf AboArafe
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesman and Director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Mr. Sameh Shoukry received on Sunday, October 22nd, Annette Weber, the European Union envoy to the Horn of Africa, to discuss the security and political challenges in the Horn of Africa region, and the situation in Sudan.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman explained that Minister Shukri welcomed European support for the Egyptian efforts aimed at creating common ground that enables the Sudanese civil forces to address the causes of the crisis and start a comprehensive political process, reviewing the efforts of the Neighboring Countries Mechanism since Egypt hosted the Neighboring Countries Summit in Cairo. In this context, Shukri stressed the need to fully respect Sudan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, preserve the Sudanese state, its capabilities and institutions, and the priority of dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the current crisis in a serious and comprehensive manner, and for donor countries and parties to fulfill their pledges made at the donor conference in June 2023.
In connection with the crisis situation in the Gaza Strip and Egypt’s efforts to reduce the escalation, the Minister of Foreign Affairs warned against the international community ignoring the crisis in Sudan as a result of its long duration or the emergence of other crises in the region, calling for coordination of regional and international efforts to attract the parties to the conflict towards positive interaction with efforts to resolve the crisis.
On the other hand, the Foreign Minister listened to a comprehensive assessment by the European envoy of the results of her contacts with all parties to try to contain the situation in Sudan, as well as her contacts with the political forces, where she thanked Egypt for facilitating the task of her meetings with representatives of the Sudanese political forces in Cairo recently.
Ambassador Abu Zeid stated that the meeting also witnessed a discussion of the situation in Somalia, where Mr. Sameh Shoukry stressed Egypt’s firm support for Somalia’s efforts to combat the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, restore stability, and complete the political path. He also addressed the position regarding the recent rounds of the Renaissance Dam negotiations, and Egypt’s adherence to the necessity of reaching a binding legal agreement regarding filling and operating the Renaissance Dam.
For her part, the European Union envoy was keen to praise the important role played by Egypt in the region, stressing the European Union’s keenness to permanently coordinate with Egypt in all relevant regional files.
