Egyptian FM discusses challenges with President of European Council

CAIRO – 20 January 2025: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Badr Abdelatty met Sunday President of the European Council Antonio Costa in Brussels who valued the role played by President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi in brokering the Gaza ceasefire agreement and in establishing peace and stability in the Middle East, noting that Egypt is a key partner of the EU.  

 

On his side, Minister Abdelatty commended the growth of Egypt-EU ties since the visit of President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen to Cairo in March 2024 where an agreement on elevating relations to the strategic level was signed. He noted that the deal has generated more interest by the European private sector to invest in Egypt, underlining the country's eagerness for implementing all axes of the strategic partnership.

The minister also welcomed the €7.4-billion financial assistance package granted by the EU to Egypt, and the disbursement of the first tranche worth €1 billion, saying that the country looked forward to the endorsement of the second tranche worth €4 billion.

In a related context, the Egyptian minister tackled cooperation on combating illegal migration, asserting the salience of remedying its causes which are majorly intertwined with the lack of socio-economic development. Hence, he shed light on the challenges and burdens endured by Egypt because of hosting 10 million foreign residents.

The meeting equally addressed the consecutive regional developments, mainly those pertaining to Gaza Strip. In that regard, Minister Abdelatty displayed the strenuous efforts deployed by Egypt – along with the United States and Qatar – to accomplish a deal on ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. As such, he underlined the importance that all parties abide by all the terms and the timeline.

The minister expressed hope that the agreement would lead to an accelerated pace of humanitarian aid delivery across the enclave, calling on the EU to support humanitarian work there and take part in reconstruction projects.  

Similarly, Minister Abdelatty tackled the features of the Egyptian stance on the status quo of each of Syria, Sudan, Somalia, and Horn of Africa, presenting the aspects of the issue with Ethiopia affecting Egypt's water security, stressing that the matter is uncompromisable.