President El-Sisi Meets with the President of Hungary

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with the Hungarian President Mr. János Áder in Sandor Palace (Hungarian Presidential Palace), Budapest, during his official state visit to Hungary. An official welcoming ceremony was held for the President, the two national anthems were played, and the guard of honor was reviewed.

As stated by the Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, the President conducted individual talks followed by expanded talks with the Hungarian President. President El-Sisi started by expressing Egypt’s gratitude for the Hungarian warm reception and praising the extended Egyptian-Hungarian friendship bonds and the significant advance in relations accomplished at various levels during the recent period.

The President, also, expressed Egypt’s aspiration to deepen and promote robust relations, particularly at the economic and trade levels, by increasing the volume of Hungarian investments in Egypt.

The Spokesman also added that the Hungarian President welcomed President El-Sisi and the accompanying delegation, expressing Hungary’s appreciation for Egypt at the official and popular levels and its pride of the historical ties binding the two friendly countries.

The Hungarian President also praised the successful development experience Egypt is going through under the leadership of President El-Sisi in all fields along with the mega national projects underway. The Hungarian President confirmed his country’s full support to Egypt’s development efforts in all fields through the exchange of experience and the development of joint investments.

For his part, President El-Sisi asserted that Hungarian investments and industries have a strong chance of having a strong presence in the Egyptian market in order to benefit from the new Egyptian infrastructure and access the African markets through it.

This can be particularly achieved in light of the free trade agreements (FTAs) Egypt has with various regional economic blocs. The President confirmed the popular welcome in Egypt for boosting cooperation with Hungary and increasing its investments and trade activities in Egypt.

Both sides praised the unprecedented levels of cooperation and coordination between both countries in the field of water resources and management, especially water treatment facilities in light of the experiences and advanced technologies Hungary has in this field.

The Spokesman also added that today’s talks covered various regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially the ones related to the developments of the Libyan crisis, Afghanistan’s situation and the mutual efforts made for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The talks reflect mutual understanding between both countries on ways to address these issues. The Hungarian President praised Egypt’s pivotal role in cementing stability in the Middle East and Africa.

Additionally, President Áder commended Egypt’s diligent efforts in combating illegal immigration, achieving inter-religion coexistence, and supporting all peaceful solutions to regional crises.

Both parties exchanged views on combatting terrorism and extremist though in light of the real threat they pose to development efforts in the region and the world. The President stressed the need to concert efforts of the international community in order to besiege this menace across all levels.

The Hungarian President further praised the comprehensive approach undertaken by Egypt regarding the war on terrorism by fixing the roots of the problem through supporting economic and social developments and combating extremist thought leading to terrorism.

The discussions also tapped on the latest development regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). President El-Sisi stressed that Egypt’s current stance is based on the importance of arriving at a legal binding agreement regarding the filling and operation of the dam. This is based on rules of international law and the presidential statement in the United Nations Security Council. In this respect, the Hungarian President expressed his country’s full understanding of Egypt’ situation and the importance of the Nile water to it, affirming that the settlement of this issue will in turn enhance stability in the entire region.

As for the peace process, views were exchanged; the Hungarian President valued Egypt’s recent moves in this front, which led to achieving and maintaining calm between the Palestinian and Israeli sides and ameliorating humanitarian and living conditions for the Palestinians, especially through the Egyptian initiative to rebuild the Gaza Strip.