Pope Tawadros II ordained three new priests. Furthermore, in an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper he stated that Egypt was and will remain the first defense line of the Arab Gulf States, hailing the stance taken by Saudi Arabic, Kuwait and the UAE as historic. The Pope stated that national security is an issue of great importance in the whole region, noting that the situation in Egypt will become stable after the presidential and parliamentary elections. Tawadros II stressed that there is no such thing as a sectarian crisis in Egypt, affirming that Egyptian Muslims and Christians are very close to one another. Asked about his support for June 30, the pope said that participating in the revolution is a purely patriotic act and has nothing to do with politics. (Ahmad Badrāwī & Girgis Fikrī, al-Shurūq al-Jidīd, Mar. 2, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.