Egyptian president to visit Spain next week after cancelling meeting with Trump in the US

Eduardo González King Felipe VI and President of the Government Pedro Sánchez will receive Egyptian President Abdelfatah Al Sisi next week, who has just cancelled a trip to the United States in retaliation for President Donald Trump's plan to occupy the Gaza Strip and displace its Palestinian population to Egypt and Jordan. According to the Royal House, the King will receive Al Sisi at the Royal Palace on February 19. Later, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia will offer a lunch in honour of the Egyptian leader. This is Al Sisi's second official visit to Spain since 2015. Al Sisi's official visit also includes a meeting with Pedro Sánchez. The President of the Government was received by the Egyptian leader on November 24, 2023, as part of a tour of the Middle East accompanied by the then Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croÿ. Sánchez was also received by the Egyptian president during an official visit in November 2021. Sánchez and Al Sisi held a telephone conversation on January 29 in which, according to the spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, both discussed bilateral relations, especially in the economic, commercial and investment fields, and the Spanish President of the Government praised Egypt's role in reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. For his part, Al Sisi praised Spain's position in support of the Palestinian cause, addressed Egypt's humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and stressed his country's unwavering position in favour of the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders. Abdel Fattah al Sisi was scheduled to travel to the United States on 18 February, but has finally decided to cancel the visit (which was to be made at the invitation of the American president) while Trump continues with his idea of expelling the 2.3 million Gazans to Jordan and Egypt to turn the Gaza Strip into a kind of tourist resort under American authority. Egypt has also called an Arab Summit for 27 February with the aim of formulating a united position on Trump's plans in the Gaza Strip. Albares and Badr Abdelatty Specifically, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a bilateral meeting this Friday with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty. During the meeting, held in Munich on the sidelines of the Security Conference, the minister discussed with Abdelatty, in addition to bilateral relations, Trump's plan in Gaza, just as he did the day before in Paris with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, on the sidelines of the International Conference on Syria. “The position of both countries is very clear, that of Spain as well,” Albares told the press. “Gaza is the land of the Gazan Palestinians and what we all have to do, and Spain is already doing it by introducing its emergency humanitarian aid at this very moment in Gaza, is to help them to begin to take a normal start in their lives again,” he continued. “Spain is going to be part of that reconstruction, so that the Gazans can return to having a normal life in their land, and Gaza has to be part of the future Palestinian State,” he concluded.

Related Content

Foreign Ministry reports the deaths of two Spaniards and the disappearance of 80 others following the Venezuelan earthquakes

Albares expresses “full support” for granting nationality to Sahrawis, a measure rejected by his party in Congress

Foreign Ministry confirms the release of Alicia Armesto, the Spanish activist from the Flotilla detained a month ago in Libya

Albares asserts that “no country in the world” has commented on the deaths of three Polisario members

Foreign Ministry announces openings for Consul General in Rome, Marseille, Perpignan, Toulouse, and Munich