Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday (26 January) issued the following statement in Berlin regarding the sending to Egypt of 6 experts from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Foreign Office:

“We are still working at full stretch to stabilize the truce which has held for a week now.

Effectively combating arms trafficking is one of the key contributions towards a durable ceasefire and the opening of the borders.

During my first trip to Egypt and Israel in early January I said that Germany would help with this ambitious task.

A delegation of German experts from the internal-affairs and foreign ministries travelled to Cairo on Monday evening (26 January) to clarify on site how to support Egypt's efforts to effectively protect the border.”