Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 15 October 2019 held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry, who was on an official visit to Croatia, the first on this level in history.
The central topic of the meeting were Croatia-Egypt bilateral relations, which could be further advanced politically and economically, as well as the exemplary cooperation in international bodies and formats. The two ministers also reflected on the current foreign policy issues of the wider Middle Eastern and North African region.
Grlić Radman informed his Egyptian counterpart about the priorities of the Council of the EU chairmanship. The two officials underlined mutual interest to boost the EU-Egypt cooperation in combating terrorism, which Croatia is ready to contribute to as the chair of the Working Party on Terrorism. Additionally, Croatia and Egypt are both Mediterranean countries, members of the Union for the Mediterranean, well aware of the challenges and opportunities of that region, which further connects them.
Shoukry underlined that Egypt appreciated Croatia’s international objectivity and even-handedness, as well as its push for solutions that are agreed upon and will assist stabilization and development. He congratulated Croatia on joining the EU and NATO. Shoukry expects our EU chairmanship to be guided by European values, not national interests. Egypt is open to a dialogue with Croatia on a number of areas, notably tourism, and is interested in involving Croatian IT and infrastructural companies in the construction of the new capital of Egypt and 14 modern cities throughout the country.
Grlić Radman and Shoukry also talked about the challenges of migration, highlighting the importance of our countries’ close cooperation with the regional and international partners, as well as of a timely and unified European and multilateral response to these challenges.
Grlić Radman reflected on the status of the Muslim community in Croatia, given that our country is known for having built a successful co-existence and relations between the state and the Islamic community. He emphasized that Croatia prides itself on the fact that Islam has been for more than a century one of the official religions in Croatia, which not only contributes to the diversity of its society, but is important for the European continent as well.