It is indeed a great pleasure for me to extend to you and to the members of your delegation once more a very warm welcome in the Hofburg Palace.

Transcription

1 Toast of the Austrian Federal President Dr. Heinz Fischer on the occasion of the Official Working Visit of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, Monday, 13 March 2006 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is indeed a great pleasure for me to extend to you and to the members of your delegation once more a very warm welcome in the Hofburg Palace. Your visit Mr. President is a clear sign of our common intention to deepen further the traditional ties of friendship between our two countries. I fondly remember our meetings in Salzburg and Vienna in October 1978 and September 1979 in your former capacity as Vice President of the late President Sadat and later in Cairo together with Willy Brandt in the 80ies and of course your State visit to Austria including the visit to the Austrian Parliament in October Thus we welcome in your person not only the eminent Head of State of a nation that plays a most important role in international

2 affairs but a longstanding good and reliable friend of our country. Egypt has, for a very long time, played a significant stabilising and moderating role in the war-torn Middle-East-region. Indeed, who can forget the historic and brave initiative of President Sadat to conclude a peace agreement with Israel, thus fundamentally changing the situation in the Middle East. Since then, Egypt has consistently and tirelessly been trying to help find peaceful solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Egypt s initiatives and mediating role do not stop here. You, Mr. President, have constantly also been engaged in extending your good services as an honest broker in other conflicts and crises areas like Iraq, Syria/Lebanon and the Sudan. Egypt s efforts in trying to secure a stable situation in Gaza after the withdrawal of Israeli forces have shown a remarkable success. The EU has contributed as well, not only with financial assistance, but also with the establishment of the EU-Border Assistance Mission in Rafah. We are convinced that in the present very delicate phase following the Palestinian elections, Egypt will again have a pivotal role to play.

3 We Europeans share a responsibility to help find and implement peaceful solutions for the region s conflicts by supporting all constructive forces in the region that are working towards such solutions. We are conscious of the suffering of the Palestinian people. Just recently the EU has therefore put 120 Mio. at disposal for emergency assistance to the Palestinian population. Even as Austria now holds the EU-Presidency and therefore speaks for 25 Members States, we should not forget to highlight the strong and close bilateral relations between Egypt and Austria that date back to the founding era of the modern Egyptian state. Austrian businessmen and engineers have been involved in the renaissance and development of modern Egypt. It was an Austrian engineer, Alois Negrelli, who designed the plans for the construction of the Suez Canal. In recent time the excellent relations between our countries were also reflected in the deep and strong personal ties that a number of prominent Austrian leaders and politicians established with the Arab world in general and with Egypt in particular. However, these ties go far beyond the realm of politics. Thus, the late Austrian Cardinal, Franz König, one of the most impressive and influential European church leaders,

4 was one of the first foreign church dignitaries to hold a public lecture at Al Azhar. This was in the early seventies of the last century at a time when it was not yet fashionable to highlight the importance of religious dialogue. As events in the last months have shown, dialogue between the Western and Islamic cultures is more needed than ever in order to prevent the Mediterranean sister civilizations, which share many common roots, from drifting apart. Austria, during the coming months has planned several events and encounters to focus on this dialogue on civilizations. Vienna will host for instance the Second Conference of Imams on the 7 of April as a contribution to dialogue. Therefore Austria appreciates very much the outstanding role, you, Mister President, are playing in this dialogue between the religions and the civilisations. Distinguished Guests, The presence of the Austrian Federal Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and high-ranking representatives of the Austrian business community is a good reason to mention also our economic relations. It is obvious that we have a solid basis but there is still a great potential of further economic development

5 and exchange in both directions and there is much room for a growth and improvement in many areas. You know that Austria s economy is a good and reliable partner with high quality and high technology. it is a great pleasure to have you with us here today. I am deeply convinced that we will use all opportunities to further intensify the relations between Egypt and Austria and between Egypt and Europe. With these thoughts in mind I extend to you my best wishes for your personal well-being for the well-being of the members of your delegation and all friends around this table, for a prosperous future of the Egyptian people and for peace in the Middle East.