Egypt, key EU partner in ME

European Commission President Romano Prodi said that Egypt is the largest state south of the Mediterranean and the European Community's key partner in the achievement of political, economic and social stability in the Middle and Far East.

"The EU is Egypt's main trading partner and furthermore, is raising its contribution to Egypt's economic and social modernization programme," he told (Middle East News Agency (MENA) in an interview Thursday.

"The signing of the Egyptian-European partnership agreement recently in its initial form has opened new horizons in bilateral relationship and enhanced the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, launched in 1995," he said.

Prodi shortly begins a Middle East tour including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

"The Egyptian-European partnership agreement will give great impetus to trade exchange and bilateral economic relations and also accelerate efforts to establish a free trade zone for the EU and its Mediterranean partners by 2010," Prodi said.

He praised the new spirit marking the EU-South and East Mediterranean relationship, five years after the launching of the Barcelona process.

"The partners who have contributed to the building of the Barcelona Process despite all the ebb and flow in the Middle East peace process, have built new relationships that have helped group the countries together towards the realization of joint interests," Prodi said.