<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, was received this Thursday in Cairo by the President of Egypt, Abdelfatah Al Sisi, who highlighted his “continuous coordination” with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to “achieve peace” in the Middle East and to whom he conveyed the interest of Spanish companies to participate in the development process of the North African country in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and transport.</strong></h4> “Audience with the President of Egypt, Abdelfatah Al Sisi, in Cairo,” said Albares through his official account on the social network X. “We have talked about strengthening the excellent Spain-Egypt relations, of recovering peace in the Middle East and the challenges of the African continent and the Mediterranean,” he continued. “Egypt is an ally and friend of Spain,” he concluded, without further details. The meeting, which took place at the Al Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, was also attended by Albares' Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, and the Spanish ambassador in Cairo, Álvaro Iranzo, among others, according to the website of the Presidency. For his part, Al Sisi praised Spain's "positive" approach to the Middle East, especially in the case of "the Palestinian cause", which "is reflected in the continued coordination between the leaders of the two countries and the common vision that unites them to achieve peace in the region," according to the spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency through the aforementioned website. In this regard, Albares conveyed to the Egyptian president “the greetings and thanks” of Pedro Sánchez and conveyed to him “Spain’s full support for the tireless Egyptian efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the implementation of humanitarian aid,” highlighting, in this regard, “the centrality of Egypt’s role at the regional level to stop the expansion of the conflict and advance efforts to establish peace and stability.” Within this framework, during the meeting there was agreement on the importance of increasing international efforts to stop the ongoing escalation and achieve a general calm of the situation in Gaza and Lebanon, in order to avoid a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and to open the way to achieving peace on the basis of the two-state solution, added the presidential spokesman. The meeting also addressed “the depth of bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them and push them towards broader horizons, especially in the economic and investment fields.” In this regard, according to the cited source, Albares conveyed to Al Sisi Spain's interest in increasing its participation "in the development process that Egypt is witnessing", through the role of Spanish companies in many sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture and transport, "for the benefit of the friendly Egyptian and Spanish peoples". <span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">After his meeting with Al Sisi, Albares was received by the Egyptian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Rania A. Al Mashat, with whom he discussed Spain's "support" for "the development of Egypt."</span></span> <span class="jCAhz"><span class="ryNqvb">"Spanish Cooperation is present in Egypt with projects in the gender, water and sanitation sectors," the minister said through X.</span></span></span> The meeting between Albares and Al Sisis took place within the framework of a two-day official visit by the minister to Egypt, which began on Wednesday with a meeting with his counterpart, before whom he defended "a peaceful and negotiated solution" for the Middle East "against those who prefer war". That same day, the two ministers participated in the presentation of the project 'Leadership of Egyptian women in the observance of Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council', by UN Women, which has funding of 400,000 euros and is carried out in collaboration with the National Council of Women, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding. “The participation of women in peace negotiations and in decisions that affect them, their families and the future of their countries is essential,” Albares said through X.
