EU foreign affairs chief to meet Egypt's President Morsi

Catherine Ashton, European Union's Foreign Policy Chief European Union's Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, will visit Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday as part of a wider tour of the Middle East - which includes Jordan , Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and Palestine.
During her two-day visit, Ashton is expected to meet with President Mohammed Morsi and Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr as well, as Egyptian opposition figures, to tackle relations between Egypt and the EU, said Ambassador James Moran, Head of Delegation of the EU to Egypt.
Ashton's visit is her second to Egypt in less than three months. She was last in Cairo on April 6-7. Ashton is expected to reiterate EU's support for the democratic transition in Egypt, Moran said.
He pointed out that her talks in Egypt are expected to touch on the Egyptian stance on the Syrian conflict and the planned Geneva 2 conference to push for a peaceful settlement in Syria.
As the United States, Russia and European states continue exerting efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, "no political compromise could be reached without Egypt’s diplomatic clout," Moran said.
Hailing the EU’s longstanding relations with Egypt and other African states, Moran said Ashton would listen to Egyptian officials to see what could be done to ease tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the divisive Renaissance Dam project, launched by Ethiopia in May.