Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Provoke Algerians

Egyptian government asked Algeria to lift the obstacles on Egyptians who are wishing to invest in Algeria, and to facilitate their entry by giving some flexibility in the granting of visas, and extending the period of validity to more than a month, with providing it more than once.

Former Egyptian Foreign Minister, and Chairman of the Foreign Relationships Committee in the Egyptian Parliament, Mohamed Orabi, told Echorouk, on the sidelines of the Forum on “New Challenges for Parliamentary Diplomacy” at the Lower Chamber of Parliament, said that the Egyptians find it difficult to enter Algeria because of the obstacles that are placed by the authorities to grant visas.

“Visa to enter Algeria is strange, and I am surprised how is the visa granted to those willing to invest for a month and for a single trip.”

“Talks are launched with Algerian officials to convince them to reconsider the decision to facilitate the entry of Egyptians to Algeria in order to boost the economic ties. Algerian government has shown understanding of the decision and is studying it with great interest.”

It is known that the Egyptian embassy in Algeria imposed new requirements on Algerians to get a visa to Egypt, which many poeple consider as impossible, especially those related to the inclusion of a bank account in the list of requirements, as well as complex procedures concerning the security clearance that the person who wants to get a visa should prove that it is not involved in terrorist issue.

For his part, the Egyptian official talked about a visit by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Choukri, to Algeria in the coming weeks for the consolidation of bilateral relationships, which he asserts that they are in the best forms, and are developing in the coming months, and asserted that coordination between the two countries in the side of security is going at a good pace, especially in the Libyan file, that the countries give a big importance, given that Egypt is non-permanent member in the Security Council.

“Relationships between the two countries will continue to extend to the economic side, as several agreements relate Egypt and Algeria along the lines with the providing of oil and natural gas agreements.”