(AFP) – Leaders of the European Union and five European countries visited cash-strapped Egypt on Sunday to secure a €7.4 billion loan focused on boosting energy trade and stemming irregular migration flows into the 27 member states. announced the policy.
The deal includes billions of dollars in future loans to heavily indebted Egypt and increased energy sales that could help Europe “move away from Russian gas,” a senior European Commission official said. It is said to include things like.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, together with the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece and Italy, meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ahead of the planned signing ceremony. did.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership Agreement includes 5 billion euros in loans over four years, 1.8 billion euros in investments and hundreds of millions of euros for bilateral projects, including migration. Stated.
Egypt, which is in a painful economic crisis, is struggling with war-torn Libya and two ongoing conflicts: the Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and the Sudanese war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force. It borders the center of the conflict.
“Egypt is and will continue to be an important country for Europe,” a commission official said, noting Egypt’s “important position in a very difficult region bordering Libya, Sudan and the Gaza Strip.” did.
Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, Alexander Prime Minister de Croo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attend a diplomatic meeting. Sunday, March 17, 2024 in Cairo, Egypt. BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM (Photo by DIRK WAEM / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by DIRK WAEM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Egypt already hosts around 9 million migrants and refugees, including 4 million Sudanese and 1.5 million Syrians, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.
EU officials said the agreement includes measures to cooperate with Sudan on “security, counter-terrorism cooperation and the protection of borders, especially the southern border.”
The Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack, “will not be the main focus, but will be part of the discussion” in Cairo, the official added. .
The delegation included three Mediterranean leaders: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo also attended.
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The deal follows several controversial deals the EU has struck in North Africa with Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania to stem the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean.
The EU’s border agency Frontex recorded nearly 158,000 migrants arriving in Europe via the dangerous sea route last year, a 50% increase on the previous year.
This trend has led to a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric in Europe and the rise of right-wing populist parties in several EU countries.
Human rights groups have strongly condemned the deal with the authoritarian government.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said it had documented “arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees by Egyptian authorities.”
HRW criticized what it called “the EU’s cash-for-money approach to managing migration,” saying it “strengthens authoritarian rulers while at the same time protecting human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and others whose work entails great personal risk.” “Betray the activists.”
Egypt has emphasized that no migrant boats have left its shores in recent years. However, Egyptians still arrive in Europe by sea, with most arriving in Italy via Libya or Tunisia.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, is in dire need of financial support to overcome a severe economic crisis marked by rapid inflation.
The International Monetary Fund agreed this month to an $8 billion loan package after Cairo implemented reforms that included flexible exchange rates and higher interest rates.
Egypt’s economy, which is dominated by military-related companies and has recently focused on mega-infrastructure projects, has been hit hard by a series of recent economic shocks.
Among them: the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism industry, the rise in the price of imported food during the war in Ukraine, and the reduction in Suez Canal revenues due to attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. etc. are included.
Egypt’s external debt has ballooned to nearly $165 billion, with servicing costs expected to reach $42 billion this year.
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