Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Thursday that he agreed with his Hungarian counterpart President Janos Ader for close cooperation mainly in combating terrorism, curbing illegal migration, and increasing trade exchange.
Ader is on a four-day official visit to Egypt.
Following a meeting between the two leaders at the Ittihadiya presidential palace, Sisi said the talks were “fruitful,” adding that a meeting on improving economic and scientific ties may be held in Budapest next year.
“Hungary plays an important role in the European Union and regionally” Sisi said, calling for closer cooperation in building international relations.
“It is a common interest to develop an international position on fighting terrorism,” the Egyptian President said, adding that the international community should step up efforts to address the strife in Libya and Syria.
For his part, the Hungarian President thanked Sisi for his kind invitation and said Egypt’s success in fighting terrorism would be in Europe’s best interest.
“Egypt is indispensable in fighting terrorism and preventing another migration wave to Europe,” Ader said.
Thursday’s meeting was the third between the two countries’ presidents in more than two years.
They last met in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Sisi and Aer had reviewed efforts to resolve current crises in some states in the region.
During their meeting, they also touched on economic cooperation.
“We agreed to further strengthen economic cooperation and take advantage of available areas of cooperation, including water treatment,” the Hungarian President said.
Ader said cooperation in water management was an area of bilateral economic ties worth pursuing, and hopefully the results would be tangible within a year or two.
The Hungarian President also met on Thursday with Egypt’s Speaker of Parliament.
