14 May, 2007… Within the framework of the Egyptian Foreign Minister's instructions to the Assistant Foreign Ministers to intensify political consultations with countries of the various geographical groups in order to promote bilateral relations and coordinate stances regarding international and regional issues of common interest, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Ambassador Fatma El Zahra Etman conducted a tour to a number of European countries, including Greece, Portugal and Belgium, which took place in the period from 3-10 May. During the tour, the Assistant Foreign Minister delivered a message from the Egyptian Foreign Minister to his Greek counterpart, Dora Bakoyiannis, within the framework of preparing for the latter's visit to Egypt next June. She also delivered a similar message to the Portuguese side within the framework of coordinating the Egyptian-Portuguese stances, especially since Portugal will preside the EU in the second half of the current year, and the keenness demonstrated by the Portuguese side to consult with Egypt on various regional issues. Ambassador Etman also headed the Egyptian delegation in the political consultations with Greece and Portugal in which the Egyptian Ambassador to Greece, Hamdi Loza, and the Egyptian Ambassador to Portugal, Dr. Ibrahim Salama, also participated. The consultations tackled the bilateral relations and the regional issues of common interest, especially the outcome of the Riyadh Summit which deals with enforcing the Arab Peace Initiative, the recent efforts to revive the Peace Process, and the European stance towards it. The consultations also dealt with the developments in Sudan, and the Egyptian ideas proposed to resolve the Darfur crisis, the Iranian nuclear file, the Lebanese crisis, the European–African relations, in addition to the Egyptian efforts exerted to achieve security and stability and promote reconciliation in Iraq in light of the two Ministerial conferences on Iraq hosted by Egypt in May 2007 in Sharm El Sheikh. Within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, Ambassador Fatma El Zahraa also represented the Egyptian side in the senior officials preparatory meetings held in Crete on 3 May to prepare for the ministerial meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean forum which will be held in Greece next June. The Ambassador also participated in the first round of meetings of the policy planning dialogue between Egypt and the EU which was held in Brussels on 10 May.