President El-Sisi’s Speech at Joint Press Conference with President of Estonia

alhadath – cairo

“In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful”

Your Excellency President Alar Karis,

President of the Republic of Estonia,

It gives me pleasure to welcome Your Excellency on your first official visit to Egypt at the bilateral level. This visit demonstrates the commitment of both countries to enhance bilateral relations in the coming phase and capitalize on all possible opportunities to advance cooperation to wider prospects.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The discussions I held today with His Excellency President Karis affirmed alignment in views on the importance of intensifying joint action to strengthen relations between our friendly nations.

This is in addition to our interest to strengthen economic, trade, and investment ties, reflected in His Excellency’s keenness to bring a delegation of Estonian businesspeople and investors to explore cooperation opportunities, particularly in the energy, mining, education, and the food industry sectors, to be commensurate with our growing collaboration in the fields of communications and information technology, and digital transformation—a field in which Estonia has outstanding expertise.

There was alignment, during our talks today, on the importance of maintaining regular political consultations and technical visits to provide the necessary momentum for relations across various fields and explore multiple areas of cooperation, including technical training, Artificial Intelligence, and cybersecurity. We also discussed ways to enhance trilateral cooperation in Africa to serve the common interests of all parties.

Our discussions emphasized the importance of exchanging expertise in issues such as counter-terrorism and organized crime, including the smuggling of illegal migrants. I welcomed Estonia’s continued support for issues that are of priority to Egypt within European Union institutions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Regional and international issues were strongly present in my discussions with His Excellency the President of Estonia. The Palestinian issue topped the regional issues that I discussed with His Excellency, as Egypt views it as the core of the region’s issues. I reviewed Egypt’s diligent efforts to halt Israel’s unjustified and continuous escalation in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the widening scope of Israeli attacks to include Yemen and Syria.

I stressed the need for concerted efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire and prevent the region from sliding into a full-scale regional conflict, underlining the importance of establishing a sovereign Palestinian State along the June 4, 1967 borders as a cornerstone for stability in the Middle East.

Our discussions also touched on several regional and international matters, mainly Libya, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, the security of the Red Sea, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and issues of food and energy security. We agreed on the need to intensify international efforts to address these crises and find peaceful solutions to ongoing conflicts, as well as fostering peace and stability.

In conclusion, I once again express my pleasure to welcome Your Excellency, President Karis, and I look forward to strengthening the bonds of cooperation between our countries and continuing the exchange of views on international and regional issues.

I now invite His Excellency the President of Estonia to deliver his remarks.