President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received on Sunday João Gomes Cravinho, minister of national defence of Portugal, and discussed several bilateral issues and international affairs. During the meeting, Al-Sisi praised the strong cooperation between Egypt and Portugal, reflected in frequent meetings between high officials from both countries, including the 2016 visit of Al-Sisi to Portugal and the 2018 visit of his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to Cairo. The two leaders have also met in the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018. The meeting witnessed discussions on means of enhancing military bilateral cooperation between the two countries, including joint training and exchange of experiences, as well as a number of issues of mutual interest, particularly combating terrorism and illegal migration across the Mediterranean. Al-Sisi pointed out to Egypt's efforts in hosting millions of refugees, while promoting development efforts and economic reform. The meeting was attended by Minister of Defence and Military Production, Mohamed Zaki, and the ambassador of Portugal in Cairo, according to the presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady. The president expressed Egypt's keenness to continue close coordination between the two countries, and push forward cooperation. For his part, the Portuguese minister stressed his country's keenness to coordinate and consult closely with Egypt, praising its efforts to establish stability in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. He also hailed Egypt's success in becoming an oasis of security and stability in a region suffering from crises and unrest imposed by these crises of various challenges and implications for border control and the fight against terrorism and illegal migration.
