Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry told MPs that Egypt has been able to achieve many foreign policy successes on the international and regional levels in recent years. "As Egypt has been able to greatly recover security and stability, largely thanks to the efforts of the military and police forces. The foreign ministry has been keen to use this to restore Egypt's influence and prestige on both the international and regional levels," Shoukry said, adding that "the fact that Egypt was unanimously elected to be the chair of the African Union in 2019 clearly attests to this fact." "The last Arab-European summit at Sharm El-Sheikh and the keenness of most Arab world and European leaders to attend this summit also provides added evidence that Egypt now enjoys tremendous respect and appreciation in international circles," he said. Shoukry, addressing a meeting with members of parliament's foreign affairs committee on Monday, said "Egypt's foreign policy is mainly based on having balanced relations and mutual respect with all countries, and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's instructions in this respect are that our foreign policies should be as transparent and clear as possible," he said. "In most of his foreign visits, President El-Sisi has always been keen to find common ground and give a clear and transparent account of Egypt's internal conditions and its foreign policy objectives." However, Shoukry indicated that "despite the great successes achieved in the area of foreign policy in recent years, Egypt still has a lot of challenges ahead." "We are still being targeted by terrorist organisations and some foreign countries, and both are trying their best to isolate Egypt and disrupt it in the same way they did in Libya and Syria," he said, adding that "these hostile elements focus on targeting Egypt in particular because they take it as the great prize in disrupting the entire Arab region and spreading chaos there." "These terrorist groups and some foreign elements are doing their best to isolate Egypt at the international and regional levels," Shoukry said, adding that "the foreign ministry has been closely following this malicious scheme to thwart it." "This, of course, goes in tandem with the efforts of the military and police forces in fighting terrorism and other national security threats facing the country," he said, indicating that "Egypt's ambassadors are under instructions at all times not to interfere in the affairs of other countries, and show others that we are against double standards in foreign relations." The Egyptian foreign minister said that the country's ambassadors are also tasked with giving an honest account of the recent progress in the country's internal stability and economic conditions. "They are keen to show the country's great investment opportunities, and the recent legislative developments which have led to big economic growth," he concluded.
