President El-Sisi Meets with French President at Élysée Palace in Paris

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in the French capital, Paris.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the French President welcomed the visit of His Excellency to Paris again. President Macron stressed France’s appreciation to Egypt at the official and popular levels as well as its pride in the historical ties between the two friendly countries.

The French President further affirmed France’s keenness to strengthen joint bilateral relations in various fields and support Egypt’s capabilities and efforts under the leadership of the President to combat terrorism and extremist ideology and to achieve security and stability in the entire region.

For his part, the President affirmed Egypt’s keenness to consolidate and deepen the extended strategic partnership with France, a key pillar to maintain security and stability in the Middle East region.

His Excellency expressed his aspiration to maximize coordination and consultation with France in the coming period on various regional issues and areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly in security and military fields amid the major regional challenges facing the region hit by turmoil and conflicts.

The Spokesman stated that the meeting discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two friendly countries at various levels, particularly economic and commercial, by increasing the volume of French investments in Egypt.

Furthermore, these relations are promoted as France is considered one of Egypt’s most important partners in the European continent and as the Egyptian market provides a huge opportunity for countries to enjoy presence in the market and benefit from the modern infrastructure and improved business performance climate.

In this regard, the French President praised Egypt’s successful comprehensive development process and its major national projects underway. He stressed France’s keenness to support Egypt’s development efforts in all fields through the exchange of experiences and joint investment.

During the meeting, a number of regional issues were discussed, especially the developments in the East Mediterranean, Libya, and Syria. In this regard, President El-Sisi stressed that the only way to settle crises is through political solutions, which would preserve the unity of their territories and the integrity of their national institutions. Hence, a security base will be established for combating terrorist organizations and besieging their members to prevent their movement to other countries in the region.

For his part, President Macron expressed France’s aspiration to intensify joint coordination with Egypt on the Middle East issues given Egypt’s leverage in its region. In this context, he praised the Egyptian supportive efforts in reaching political solutions to the existing crises.

The two presidents also discussed the developments on the Palestinian cause and ways to revive the peace process in light of recent developments. The French President expressed his country’s appreciation for the Egyptian efforts, adding that he aspires to continue consultations with Egypt.

President El-Sisi asserted Egypt’s firm position for stopping acts of violence as soon as possible and reaching a just and comprehensive solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people as well as establishing their independent state in accordance with international references.

The Spokesman added that the meeting also addressed the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The President affirmed Egypt's adherence to its water rights by reaching a fair and binding legal agreement that guarantees clear rules for the process of the filling and operation of the dam and achieves the common interests of all parties. His Excellency further stressed that Egypt will not accept any harmful to be inflicted on its water interests.