Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will visit Egypt on April 29.

He will meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as well as with his counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

Jean-Yves Le Drian will discuss with his interlocutors all regional issues, regarding which we maintain close dialogue:

• Libya: The discussions will focus on the progress of the mediation efforts of Ghassan Salame, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, with the aim of ensuring that all Libyan actors are part of this process, notably in order to hold elections as swiftly as possible;
• Middle East peace process: Jean-Yves Le Drian will reaffirm our commitment to a negotiated solution, based on the internationally agreed parameters, in order to reach a two-state solution and will signal his support for Egypt's efforts to facilitate inter-Palestinian reconciliation;
• Syria: The minister for Europe and foreign affairs will discuss the initiatives needed to permanently defeat Daesh, deprive the Syrian regime of its chemical weapons arsenal, address humanitarian needs and achieve a political solution.

Jean-Yves Le Drian will also work with his interlocutors on strengthening our bilateral strategic partnership with Egypt in all areas:

• following the international conference on combating the financing of Daesh and Al Qaeda on April 26, France and Egypt intend to continue strengthening their cooperation in the fight against terrorism; ;
• Jean-Yves Le Drian will continue the dialogue initiated with the Egyptian authorities on human rights and fundamental freedoms and will underscore that in the face of terrorism, pluralism and an active civil society are strengths that the Egyptian authorities must be able to draw on; ;
• The minister for Europe and foreign affairs will reaffirm France's support for the ambitious economic reforms initiated by the Egyptian authorities;
• During his stay, Jean-Yves Le Drian will meet with representatives of French companies operating in Egypt and will visit the Cairo Metro construction site, a symbol of French-Egyptian cooperation. There are more than 160 French companies in Egypt, and they employ some 30,000 people. France was the sixth-largest investor in Egypt in 2016, with an FDI stock estimated at €1.6 billion in 2016. Trade between our two countries reached €2.5 billion in 2017, including €1.9 billion in French exports.

North Korea / South Korea – Panmunjom Declaration (April 27, 2018)

France welcomes the adoption by the two Koreas of the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.

It hopes that this declaration will contribute to the establishment of a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

We also applaud the determination of the two countries to work toward the common goal "of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula." We await concrete gestures leading to the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.