Diplomat reveals Sisi will visit France

France’s Ambassador to Cairo Stefan Roumtier revealed that there is no date set for exchanging visits between Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and his French counterpart Emanuel Macron, saying that the Egyptian president is scheduled to hold a visit to Paris during the coming Fall. He added, “When French President ascended to the power, the first phone call he received was from President Sisi. Since then, the two presidents exchange phone calls regularly. They talked recently to discuss the results of meeting between Libyan conflicting parties in the French capital of Paris.” Regarding the situation in Libya, the French diplomat praised the efforts exerted by the Egyptian government, saying that the French officials share the concerns of their Egyptian counterparts and aspire to play a major role to resolve the Libyan crisis. He said that said that bilateral relations between Paris and Cairo are exceptional in all fields, and unmatched with his county’s other partners. “As soon as he took office, President Macron had a call with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who was one of the few leaders the French president wanted to contact,” he added. The French Ambassador to Egypt expressed his delight feelings being the new French ambassador to Egypt, assuring his full responsibility to strengthen the relations between Egypt and France. Egypt and France will exchange official visits, as president Macron invited his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to visit Paris. However, the visit is expected to take place in the next fall. Commenting on the Libyan crisis, the French ambassador said that Libya represents a serious crisis. He pointed out that officials in Egypt and France share a vision for the crisis and that the Libyan case is a priority of France’s foreign policy, which it wants to work on with Egypt. 

The ambassador added that the Egyptian and French sides' views on Libya are related to three aspects, including the security aspect, as the security vacuum in Libya poses a serious threat to Europe, Egypt and other neighboring countries, such as Tunisia.  He expressed his support for the efforts exerted by the Egyptian government to besiege terrorist groups, saying that his country suffers from the same challenges facing Egypt and the other countries. He stressed his country’s support for the efforts exerted by Kuwait to mediate between Qatar and other Gulf States to resolve the current crisis. He added that that his country resumes communication with Egypt during the current period to resume the British flights to Sahrm Al Sheikh. He stressed that a large number of British tourists travel to Alexandria, Marsa Allam, Hurghada, Luxor and Aswan, saying that the dialogue continues over the position from Sharm Al Sheikh.