Al-ula: Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatriates Badr Abdelatty affirmed during a meeting on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, with Javier Colombian, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighborhood, the necessity for the international alliance to increase its focus on strengthening relations with neighboring countries to respond to the challenges and threats facing the nations of the region, thus contributing to supporting peace and security at both regional and international levels.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. Abdelatty appreciated NATO’s efforts to activate the Southern Neighborhood Action Plan approved at the Washington Summit last year.

He also stressed the importance of accelerating the launch and activation of partnership programs to enhance cooperation to achieve shared interests. He asserted Egypt’s interest in strengthening cooperation with NATO and benefiting from its expertise in several fields, topped by capacity building and knowledge transfer. This would enhance Egypt’s ability to benefit from NATO’s experiences and know-how, especially in areas such as counterterrorism, mine clearance, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.