Egypt’s FM: Establishment of Arab NATO not on the table now

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Thu, 30 Jun 2022 - 10:58 GMT

BY

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 - 10:58 GMT

File- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry gives a speech at the 157th meeting of the Arab League Council on the foreign ministerial level on Wednesday- press photo

File- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry gives a speech at the 157th meeting of the Arab League Council on the foreign ministerial level on Wednesday- press photo

CAIRO – 30 June 2022: In a joint press conference with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani on Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the idea of establishing an Arab military alliance similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, is not on the table right now.

 

“The creation of an alliance or a legal organization is a matter that must take the path of consultation, and is not proposed at the present time,” Shoukry was reported as saying by Al-Ayam newspaper.

 

In an interview with Al Jazeera T.V. on Wednesday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also affirmed that the idea of establishing an Arab NATO that includes Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Gulf States is not for discussion and was not introduced ahead of Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia on July 15 and 16.

 

 

On June 14, the Royal Diwan of Saudi Arabia announced that US President Joe Biden would attend on July 16 a summit encompassing the heads of state of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq.

 

The American president's visit to Saudi Arabia will begin on July 15 when meetings with King Salman Bin Abdel Azizi Al-Saud, and the deputy prime minister, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, will take place. 

 

Biden's tour in the Middle East also comprises Israel and Palestine, and he is set to arrive there on July 13.

 

The last direct contact between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US President Joe Biden was on May 24, 2021. That is when the latter called the former to discuss the failure of the negotiations among Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan on reaching a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

 

 

 

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