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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken of “nervous optimism” in the Middle East after holding talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi in Cairo.
Steinmeier said people in the region are optimistic that the peace process in the Gaza Strip will continue after Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas reached a ceasefire last month.
“But many people are not underestimating the difficulties that still lie ahead, especially in this region,” he added.
The German president kicked off a nearly week-long trip to Africa with his arrival in Egypt on Saturday. Alongside numerous other world leaders, he attended the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which lies within sight of the Pyramids of Giza.
Steinmeier held bilateral talks with Salam on Saturday, and with al-Sissi on Sunday.
Before his meeting with al-Sissi, Steinmeier said: “We hope that the world will not just wait and see how the process unfolds, but will help to turn the fragile ceasefire into lasting stability.”
He noted that the German government had already pledged to help with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Steinmeier praised the Grand Egyptian Museum, saying “its significance cannot be overestimated.”
“What the Egyptians have achieved here in just a few years is something great,” he said.
The German president is scheduled to travel on to Ghana and Angola. According to his office, Steinmeier aims to acknowledge the regional commitment of both states to stability and peace in West Africa.
The political partnership with them is to be strengthened, and cooperation in the fields of economy, science and culture is to be expanded, it said.
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