Egypt's El Sisi meets Italian defence minister for security talks

The sides discussed resolutions to the civil wars in Sudan and Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi discussed security and immigration with his Italian guests on Wednesday. EPA

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks on Wednesday with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in Cairo that focused on strengthening military co-operation.

Egypt and Italy have increased joint efforts, including regular war games. Egypt is a major buyer of Italian-manufactured weapon systems, including warships and military aircraft.

Egypt was the largest purchaser of Italian arms in 2020 and 2021.

Also present at the meeting was Gen Mohamed Zaki, Egypt’s Defence Minister, and Italy’s ambassador to Egypt, Michele Quaroni.

Mr Crosetto urged the Egyptian side to intensify its efforts to curb illegal immigration to Europe.

Egypt has prevented illegal migrants from using its Mediterranean coastline to attempt to cross, but a growing number of Egyptians have attempted the hazardous journey from Libya.

Mr Crosetto called for “a more concerted effort to advance the mechanisms to face cross-border immigration”, while also praising Egypt’s continued efforts to stop it.

The meeting also addressed the need for more military co-operation between the two sides to solve crises in the Middle East and North Africa, such as the civil wars in Libya and Sudan.

Mr El Sisi and Mr Crosetto stressed the need for advancing more effective political solutions to these crises in the hopes of realising more “unity and prosperity” in the Arab world.

The 2016 murder of Giulio Regeni, an Italian graduate student who was conducting research on labour laws in Egypt, strained relations between the two countries.

However, military co-operation and trade between them were largely unaffected.

A high-level Italian trade mission was received by Mr El Sisi in March for a meeting to discuss economic co-operation.