A series of recent meetings between Egyptian and Syrian officials has given momentum to rapprochement between the two countries, observers said, particularly after a dispute over Syria’s diplomatic mission in Cairo was resolved. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani on Monday on the sidelines of an Arab League meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman. In a statement on Tuesday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said the two ministers had affirmed “the depth of the historic ties between Egypt and Syria ... and the importance of building on the visit made by the Syrian foreign minister to Cairo in early May.” They welcomed plans to hold the second Egyptian-Syrian government meeting at the senior official level, with ministries and agencies responsible for trade and investment in both countries participating, to discuss practical steps to boost economic cooperation. “Relations with Egypt are moving along their natural path, and Syria is keen to develop them,” Mohammad Taha al-Ahmad, Director of the Arab and Regional Affairs Department at Syria’s foreign ministry, told Asharq Al-Awsat. The two countries had held talks in recent weeks after Egypt raised reservations over names proposed by Syria to represent its diplomatic mission in Cairo, delaying arrangements for the mission’s arrival. The issue was resolved after Syria put forward another nominee, Yahya Diab, to lead its mission in Egypt. Amr al-Shobaki, an Egyptian political analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said regional challenges made it necessary to develop Egyptian-Syrian ties. He said cultural, social and political links between the two peoples were strong, adding that Egyptian authorities “had concerns more than disagreements with the new governing system in Syria, given Egypt’s well-known experience with political Islam.” “Those concerns are being gradually overcome according to two basic principles: respect for each country’s experience and political model, and non-interference in the affairs of the other,” he added. He said Egypt had already established those principles in its relationship with Türkiye. “The successive Egyptian-Syrian meetings point to an improvement in relations according to the same two principles,” he said. In late April, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the Arab-European Consultative Summit held in Cyprus. Media outlets in Cairo and Damascus said at the time that the two had held “friendly” discussions on regional developments and ways to strengthen cooperation. Damascus hosted the first Egyptian-Syrian economic and investment forum in January, with the participation of leaders and business figures from the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce. The forum aimed to build active partnerships between the two countries and explore cooperation in trade, industry, services, infrastructure and reconstruction.
