Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met the leader of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party in the German Bundestag on Thursday, state news agency MENA reported.

El-Sisi, who is on a two-day visit to Germany, met with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, along with other officials, and signed several business deals.

Head of the CDU Volker Kauder described his meeting with El-Sisi as “positive”, according to MENA. He said they discussed “necessary” economic developments in Egypt in addition to the migration crisis that has seen waves of migrants arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean.

Kauder said that Egypt's role is "pivotal" for installing stability in the region, MENA reported.

The Egyptian military announced in May that border control forces had arrested over six thousand people attempting to illegally enter or leave Egypt. It did not specify at which borders the migrants were arrested, but people smugglers are known to operate along the Egyptian coastline.

Hundreds of migrants have been killed in boat accidents in recent months, and the EU plans to take action against the smugglers.

El-Sisi’s visit caused controversy in Germany after Norbert Lammert, the president of the German parliament and a CDU politician, refused a scheduled meeting with El-Sisi citing concerns about "a lack of democratic progress."

During a Wednesday press conference, Merkel also voiced criticism of recent mass death sentences handed to Islamists convicted of a variety of criminal offences in Egypt.

However, Merkel stressed Germany’s comprehensive support for Egypt in the latter’s war against terror. In the future, she said, Germany's support would increase, militarily and financially.

El-Sisi also signed on Wednesday an 8 billion euro (approx. $9 billion) deal between German industrial group Siemens and Egypt to supply gas and wind power plants designed to boost Egypt's power generation by 50 percent.