President El-Sisi Holds Talks with Hungarian Prime Minister in Budapest

On the third day of his official visit to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held talks today with Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, at the Premier’s office.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said Prime Minister Orban welcomed President El-Sisi as a dear friend in Hungary. He expressed his country’s appreciation for Egypt’s leadership and people, lauding the firm relations that Egypt and Hungary share. The Hungarian Prime Minister underscored his country’s keenness on further advancing relations and stepping up cooperation and coordination between the two countries across all levels, particularly in light of Egypt’s pivotal role as a cornerstone for stability, security and peace in the Middle East and Africa.

For his part, President El-Sisi thanked Mr. Orban for inviting him to visit Hungary and for the warm reception and hospitality. The President commended the robust, longstanding and special relations between Egypt and Hungary, which was demonstrated in the numerous meetings held between the two sides. President El-Sisi confirmed Egypt’s interest to cultivate closer relations and to strengthen them in all fields, in addition to continuing political coordination and consultations between the two sides. The President noted that Egypt relies on Hungary in boosting Egypt’s relations with the Visegrad Group.

The Spokesman said the talks tackled ways to further enhance bilateral relations across an array of fields. The Hungarian Prime Minister lauded the remarkable developmental progress in Egypt over the past years. He confirmed that his country looks forward to boosting mutual investments in a number of sectors, increasing trade, and achieving significant progress in economic relations between the two countries, particularly through the participation of Hungarian companies in the implementation of mega national projects in Egypt.

On cooperation between Egypt and Hungary within the context of the Visegrad Group, President El-Sisi commended the outcomes of the summit which was held yesterday between Egypt and the V4. The President asserted that Egypt hopes Hungary’s current chairmanship of the group would bring about tangible progress in various areas of cooperation with Egypt, given the profound expertise the group’s countries have in a multitude of fields, particularly in boosting economic cooperation and tourism. President El-Sisi valued the growing cooperation between Egypt and V4 countries, which reflects an alignment in views on regional and international developments, notably in light of the current instability on the international arena which requires joint action with countries sharing similar orientations, particularly in the security and energy fields as well as regional security.

The Spokesman also stated that negotiations touched on various developments in regional and international issues of common interest. The Hungarian Prime Minister praised the positive role played by Egypt in pursuing political settlements for all the existing crises in its regional surroundings. Mr. Orban also commended Egypt’s efforts to strengthen bridges of dialogue between African, Arab and European countries, combat extremist ideologies, and solidify principles and values of acceptance of the other, freedom of choice and tolerance.

The two sides exchanged points of view regarding developments in the Middle East peace process. Mr. Orban lauded the latest Egyptian actions at the highest level, Egypt’s diligent efforts to firm up the ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinians, and the Egyptian initiative for the reconstruction of Gaza. Both President El-Sisi and Mr. Orban reiterated the importance of working to strengthen international efforts aimed at reviving the peace process and resuming negotiations, in an effort to settle the Palestinian crisis, based on resolutions of international legitimacy.

The latest developments regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam were also discussed, in light of the latest Security Council Presidential Statement necessitating the parties’ compliance to reach a legally-binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam within a short period, in a manner that achieves the common interests of all parties. President El-Sisi emphasized that Egypt is fully committed to the trajectory of negotiations. He also confirmed that the international community has to play an influential role to resolve the pressing issue affecting Egypt's water rights.