Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed on Monday with the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn the ongoing preparations for holding a meeting of the EU-Egypt Association Council by the end of 2018.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 3rd Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

The two officials discussed promoting cooperation and supporting dialogue between Egypt and the European Union, as well as a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said.

Shoukry stressed that Egypt highly appreciates the positive developments in bilateral ties and the institutional cooperation with the EU.

The Egyptian foreign minister highlighted the importance of meetings held by the committees emanating from the EU-Egypt Association Agreement in 2017 and 2018.

The officials also discussed efforts exerted by Egypt to combat illegal immigration.