Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi described his talks with Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannisas as "fruitful and constructive" during a press conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest on Wednesday.
The two leaders discussed boosting economic ties and political relations between their countries. El-Sisi told reporters after the talks that bilateral economic and tourism cooperation has seen a recent boost, with trade between the two states reaching $1 billion in 2018.
Romania s flights to the popular Egyptian Red Sea resort cities of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada have increased two-fold, El-Sisi said.
The Egyptian president arrived in the Romanian capital from Minsk, Belarus during a two-state Euro tour earlier this week.
El-Sisi said Egypt sees "promising cooperation opportunities" with Romania and expressed hopes that his visit would "achieve further progress on the course of cooperation" between Cairo and Bucharest.
The talks, he added, offered an "important opportunity to exchange views on [regional and international] developments in light of the escalating challenges" for the security and stability in the Middle East and Europe.
El-Sisi also discussed with Iohannisas Cairo s vision on peaceful settlement of crises in the Arab world.
"There is no way to maintain security and stability in the Middle East without a just and comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent state" in territory taken by Israel in the 1967 war, he told reporters.
The fight against terrorism was a "major part" of the talks, El-Sisi said.
The two leaders discussed joint efforts and security cooperation to combat terrorism, as El-Sisi spoke about Egypt s vision to develop a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy to curb all forms of support to terrorist and extremist groups.
The pair last met in Egypt s Sharm El-Sheikh in February on the sidelines of a European-Arab forum.
