Ashraf AboArafe
Dr. Badr Abdel Aaty, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, met on Tuesday, September 24, with Mr. Ignazio Cassis, Swiss Foreign Minister, on the sidelines of participating in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he praised the political and diplomatic relations between the two countries, and stressed Egypt’s aspiration to achieve more cooperation in various political and economic fields. He pointed to Egypt’s role as a strategic partner for Europe and as a party supporting security and stability in Europe and the southern Mediterranean.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the existing cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the “Development Cooperation Program” as it constitutes an important component in the economic relations between the two countries, expressing his aspiration to enhance trade exchange, and anticipate the possibility of enhancing investments by encouraging Swiss companies to work in various infrastructure sectors, activating economic memoranda of understanding, and promoting cooperation in the tourism sector between the two countries. The Minister also pointed out that Dr. Abdel-Ati referred to Egypt’s efforts in combating illegal immigration, stressing the importance of European countries providing appropriate support to Egypt to continue its efforts in this field, especially with the increasing pressures resulting from the multiple crises in the region. The Minister of Foreign Affairs reviewed the determinants of the Egyptian position on regional issues, most notably the Palestinian file, where he called on the Swiss side, based on its membership in the Security Council and considering that his country is a depositary state of the four Geneva Conventions, to exert pressure on Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people and reach an immediate agreement to cease fire and provide unconditional humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stressed the need to continue supporting UNRWA, taking into account its important role and bearing the greatest burden in dealing with the humanitarian situation in Gaza, noting that the continued escalation and expansion of the conflict will lead to more confrontations and violence on various fronts in the region.
