In April, Russian experts will inspect security measures at airports of Egypt, where the modernization of all systems was completed, for the last time. Air traffic with Egypt was stopped after the crash of the Russian plane en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg as a result of a terrorist attack, in which everyone who were on board died. Now Cairo states that every possible effort was made to prevent such catastrophes.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mohamed Orabi, says that Egyptians are in the forefront of fight against terrorism, and have the support of the international community in this fight. "Egyptian people are very sorry about this case, because it certainly had a negative impact on our relations. And certainly the people of Russia have the right and should worry about the fate of their tourists, their citizens. Both sides have good intentions. There is also the political will of our leaders – Putin and el-Sisi – to develop these relations. We aim to develop all areas, both economic and social, and cultural, and the most different spheres of industry, such as energy and other fields. We aim to ensure that the whole range of relations between our countries is developing and moving forward. So that it would be reliable, so that it would not feel the impact of various shocks."
Orabi stressed that Russia and Egypt are on the same side in the fight against terrorism: "The fight in our region is being waged not just by Egypt. Terrorism has no borders. It is an enemy of the whole world. And there is probably no one who could say that he is safe from the threat of terrorism. Based on matching views on the processes taking place in the Middle East, starting with Syria and up to Yemen, Libya, we can about strengthening friendship with Russia. Friendship, which is one of the pillars of our foreign policy, our fight. We are fighting, as I said, first of all, against terrorism, and secondly – for economic development. We have always viewed and view Russia as our friend. We will never forget that Russia has always supported our nation."
A week ago, after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia and Egypt reaffirmed their principled position regarding the fact that all problems in the Middle East and North Africa region shall be settled solely in line with international law, through dialogue, which would cover all the political forces of any country and would be aimed at achieving national consensus. Last year, Egypt hosted parliamentary elections, which have successfully completed a political process that was announced by the authorities of Egypt in the summer of 2013. According to Lavrov, Moscow and Cairo have a common position regarding the Syrian crisis – only the Syrian people can decide the future of their country. "Together with Egypt, we suggest all external players to work on normalization of situation in Libya more actively and in a coordinated manner. There was an agreement, signed in Skhirat, which was praised by the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council also suggested to bring all influential Libyan players to a national dialogue, to the process of national reconciliation and consensus, in order to create a truly inclusive transitional government. We hope that such an approach would make it possible to change the situation in the matter of creating unified armies and security agencies, which is now a subject of quite serious debates between the Libyan sides," he stated.
Moscow and Cairo are paying special attention to the issues of bilateral cooperation in the context of implementation of the agreements, including the construction of nuclear power plant in Egypt, the creation of a Russian industrial zone, projects in the field of civil aviation, railway infrastructure. Now the Russian side is working on the opening of a Consulate General in Hurghada this year, which is important for further development of tourist relations.
