Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle highlighted Thursday 29/11/2012 the strong relations binding the two nations.

Addressing a press conference in Berlin, Westerwelle said that his country is following up the situation in Egypt and working on supporting the democratic transition in Egypt, citing the inauguration of the German Science Centre (DWZ) in Cairo.

The German minister on November 13 opened DWZ in a bid to bolster not only political relations between Germany and Egypt, but also scientific and social cooperation.

Westerwelle said that Egypt is a key partner for Germany in the Middle East, noting the role played by Cairo to broker Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement.

Regarding the Palestinian bid for upgrading its status in the United Nation to be a non-member observer state, he said that his country will abstain from voting respecting its commitment toward the Israeli government.

In the same context, Westerwelle said that this step taken by Palestinian Authority did not come in the proper time.

Minister Amr hailed the German attitude as backer for the January 25 Revolution that toppled president Hosni Mubarak.

The two nations have cooperation ties them for more than 100 years, Amr said, noting that the current volume of trade exchange reached up to €240 million.