Belarus, Egypt eager to advance interparliamentary cooperation

Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Igor Sergeyenko met with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt Hanafy Ali El Gebaly on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg, the press service of the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament told BelTA. Positive dynamics of Belarusian-Egyptian relations was mentioned during the meeting as well as the fact that Belarus and Egypt have the same views on most of the items on the international agenda. It was also stressed that a dialogue at the top level is the foundation of political relations between the two countries. Igor Sergeyenko reminded that in accordance with agreements reached at the top level in Minsk and Cairo a high-level commission had been set up on bilateral cooperation and political dialogue at the level of ministers of foreign affairs. The Belarusian MP expressed confidence that the commission’s work would contribute to the enhancement of cooperation. The speaker of the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament informed his colleague that the Belarusian parliament had created a working group on cooperation with the Egyptian parliament. Igor Sergeyenko encouraged the Egyptian side to resume a direct dialogue between Belarusian and Egyptian legislators and invited Hanafy Ali El Gebaly to visit Belarus in order to discuss ways of stepping up Belarus-Egypt cooperation. The parties noted the active development of economic ties, the growth of trade turnover, discussed prospects of expanding the choice of imports and exports, and of exploring new cooperation avenues. Igor Sergeyenko also congratulated Hanafy Ali El Gebaly on Egypt’s accession to BRICS and mentioned the steps the Republic of Belarus is taking to join this international association. He thanked Egypt for supporting Belarus’ stance in international organizations on matters relating to the introduction of unwarranted restrictive measures against Belarus. Igor Sergeyenko confirmed the intention of Belarusian MPs to continue interaction with Egyptian colleagues in international interparliamentary bodies on acute problems of global and regional nature, particularly the matter of the illegitimate policy of sanctions against the most vulnerable countries, the politicization of human rights, the problem of ensuring global food security and water security.