On March 3-5, 2024, ECFA hosted a delegation from the Serbian Institute of International Politics and Economics (IIPE), which included Professor Branislav Đorđević, Director of the Institute, Dr. Ivona Lađevac, Deputy Director, Professor Vladimir Cvetković, Dean of the Faculty of Security and Professor Zoran Jeftić, Head of the Department of Strategic and Defence Studies at the Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade. The two sides held two discussion sessions on March 4-5, which tackled bilateral relations in various fields, as well as international and regional issues of common interest.

            The visit program began with a meeting of the delegation, accompanied by the Ambassador of Serbia in Cairo, Miroslav Šestović, with Ambassador Khaled Emara, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs, attended by Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad, ECFA Director. Ambassador Emara welcomed the visit and the cooperation between the think tanks in the two countries with the promising potential for prosperous relations between the two countries in all fields, indicating the importance of industrial cooperation and joint production between the two countries in addition to increasing trade exchanges, so that both countries can be a hub for each other’s products in their regions, noting the special importance of culture, communications and synergies between the two peoples.

            ECFA began its subsequent meetings with the Serbian delegation by referring to the tragic situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially Gaza, stressing that Egypt is strongly involved in the de-escalation talks, and that public opinion in Egypt and the Arab world is not satisfied with the American position in the current ordeal, which has a fully supportive position for Israel. The Serbian side inquired about the South African government resorting to the International Court of Justice, filing its case against Israel on December 29, 2023, while none of the Islamic countries did so. ECFA replied that South Africa was in a better position than any other country with regard to this case, given the shameful racist and colonial history by the West against the people of the African majority in South Africa, which is exactly what is happening today in the occupied Palestinian territories, where the same countries are supporting Israel politically and militarily in its racist practices against the Palestinian people.

            On the other hand, ECFA highlighted the visit held by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Serbian Ministers of Defense, Trade and Family to Cairo in August 2013, noting that it was the first of its kind at such a high level. In addition, the delegation indicated that President El-Sisi’s visit to Serbia in 2022 was largely fruitful, as several new agreements were concluded to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, in addition to 3 new trade agreements likely to be concluded soon, during the expected visit of the Serbian President to Egypt during the coming period. On the scientific and cultural level, the Serbian side expressed its desire to host many Egyptian students to study in Serbian universities, noting that the Institute can design special training programs for Egyptian diplomatic attaches.

On his part, Ambassador Mohamed Idris gave an overview of the “Summit of the Future”, scheduled to be held on September 22 and 23, 2024, on the sidelines of the upcoming 79th session of the UN General Assembly. He stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between Egypt and Serbia in multilateral platforms, stemming from their converged visions regarding many international and regional issues, and their recognition that cooperation is the only path to overcome the various crises that the world is suffering from currently and in the future.

Moreover, the meeting discussed Egypt-China relations, the situation in Africa, and the importance of cooperation with its countries in order to enhance the common benefits of the various parties, and combat the challenges of terrorism, illegal immigration, and the theft of the enormous wealth rife in the continent. The meeting also tackled the Ethiopian dam crisis and Egypt’s position regarding it, whereby it was confirmed that Egypt helped a number of African countries in establishing river dams, especially since Ethiopia only took into account its unilateral interests in an extremely intransigent manner. Ambassador El-Oraby also warned of the issue of successive military coups in Africa, which has an impact on the region and Europe primarily, emphasizing that cooperation must be strengthened between all concerned parties to help achieve a decent life for the African people, without interfering in their internal affairs.

Finally, the Serbian side proposed the possibility of holding a joint event in the future between the two sides on any of the regional and international issues of common interest.