As part of his current visit to Moscow, ِEgypt’s Speaker Parliament Ali Abdel-Aal held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Valentina Matviyenko to discuss on-going strategic relationships between Egypt and Russia.

“We have created and maintained strong relationships with Russia in almost all fields, and I feel this will bolster stronger strategic cooperation,” said Abdel-Aal. 

According to Abdel-Aal, a high-level of coordination exists between Egypt and Russia at both the political and security levels.

"Not to mention that our economic relations are growing all the time," Abdel-Aal said, expressing hope that the two countries will soon continue direct air flights between Russian cities and the airports of Egypt's two Red Sea resort towns, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

On the other hand, Abdel-Aal expressed his appreciation for Egyptian-Russian cooperation in the two areas of information technology and nuclear power.

"It is also worthwhile to mention that President of Egypt Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and President of Russia Vladmir Putin decided to make 2020 a year of "humanitarian exchange" between Egypt and Russia," Abdel-Aal said, alluding to the fact the two countries are currently working on coordinating the Russian-African forum next October in Moscow.

For her part, speaker of Russia's Federation Council (upper house) Valentina Matviyenko said the relations with Egypt are progressing rapidly in all fields.

"Russia is proud to be the most solid partner to Egypt in the Arab world and the Middle East," Matviyenko said, adding that "the nuclear power station which Russia is building now at Dabaa, West of Alexandria, mimics our role in building the High Dam in the 1960s."

Egypt’s Parliament's Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal is currently in Russia to attend the second international forum for parliamentary development.

In a speech before the forum on Monday, Abdel-Aal warned of what he called "the increasing danger of media wars and disinformation campaigns on internal stability of nations, particularly in the Arab world and the Middle East."

"The media wars and rumours have become one of the most dangerous kinds of wars due to their influential role in disseminating false information, and aims to shake confidence in state institutions," said Abdel-Aal, adding that "these wars should also be considered a sort of cold war where nobody can predict its results and end, because in most cases we can't know who is responsible, and leave catastrophic results at times of war and peace."

Abdel-Aal urged international parliaments to stand up to the danger of media wars.

"Parliaments should have a social responsibility in this respect to safeguard nations against these threats," Abdel-Aal said, also asking parliaments to play a more active role in the area of fighting poverty and inequality, observing human rights, and achieving sustainable development."