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EU AND EGYPT SIGN 7.4 BN EURO DEAL FOCUSSED ON ENERGY, MIGRATION

Cairo (AFP) – The European Union and Egypt on Sunday signed a 7.4-billion-euro
financial package to support the indebted north African country, boost energy
sales to Europe and stem irregular migrant flows.

Issued on: 17/03/2024 - 14:49Modified: 17/03/2024 - 17:14

4 min



European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was joined in Cairo by the
leaders of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece and Italy for the signing ceremony
with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The strategic partnership deal includes billions in credit over coming years and
stepping up gas and other energy flows to help Europe "move further away from
Russian gas", said a senior European Commission official.

Von der Leyen said that "today we elevate the relationship between the EU and
Egypt to a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership and we agree on a package
ranging from trade and investment to low carbon energy, managing migration, and
education, culture and youth".

The agreement includes five billion euros in loans over four years, 1.8 billion
euros in investment and hundreds of millions for bilateral projects including on
migration, said the European official.

Egypt, mired in a painful economic crisis, borders war-battered Libya and the
centres of two ongoing conflicts -- the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and
Sudan's war between the regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support
Forces.

This photo taken on March 13, 2024 by international humanitarian organization
SOS Mediterranee shows a miggrant rescue operation by the Ocean Viking vessel in
the Libyan search and rescue region in international waters © Johanna de
TESSIERES / SOS MEDITERRANEE/AFP/File

"Egypt is a critical country for Europe today and for the days to come," the
commission official said earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity and
pointing to Egypt's "important position in a very difficult neighbourhood".

Egypt already hosts around nine million migrants and refugees, including four
million Sudanese and 1.5 million Syrians, the UN's International Organization
for Migration says.

The EU official said the deal includes steps to cooperate on "security,
counter-terrorism cooperation and protection of borders, in particular the
southern one" with Sudan.

The Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement
Hamas since the October 7 attack, "will not be the main focus but will be part
of the discussion" in Cairo, the official added.


'ELIMINATING IRREGULAR MIGRATION'

The delegation included three Mediterranean leaders -- Italian Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni, her Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus President
Nikos Christodoulides.

The EU chief and five European leaders visited cash-strapped Egypt on March 17
to announce a 7.4-billion-euro financial package © Stavros IOANNIDES / PIO/AFP

They were joined by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Belgian Prime Minister
Alexander De Croo, whose country currently holds the EU's presidency.

"We need to be partners in eliminating irregular migration," said De Croo,
adding that this could be done by "creating perspectives and jobs for the young
generation to eliminate the root causes".

The agreement follows several controversial deals the EU has sealed with Libya,
Tunisia and Mauritania to stem the flow of irregular migrants across the
Mediterranean Sea.

The EU's border agency Frontex recorded last year nearly 158,000 migrant
arrivals in Europe via the dangerous sea route, up by 50 percent on the previous
year.

The trend has sparked rising anti-immigrant rhetoric in Europe and gains for
right-wing populist parties in several EU nations.

Human rights groups have strongly condemned the deals with authoritarian
governments.

Illegal migrants from Nigeria are being deported from Libya which borders Egypt
during an operation in January © Mahmud Turkia / AFP

US-based Human Rights Watch said it had documented "arbitrary arrests and
mistreatment of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees by Egyptian authorities".

HRW criticised what it labelled "the EU's cash-for-migration-control approach",
saying it "strengthens authoritarian rulers while betraying human rights
defenders, journalists, lawyers and activists whose work involves great personal
risk".

Egypt stresses that migrant boats have not sailed from its coast since 2016,
although Egyptians still arrive in Europe by sea, mostly via Libya or Tunisia to
Italy.


DIRE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, is in dire need of financial help
as it weathers a severe economic crisis marked by rapid inflation.

The International Monetary Fund this month agreed an $8 billion loan package
after Cairo implemented reforms including a flexible exchange rate and raised
interest rates.

Egypt's economy has been hit hard by a series of economic shocks © Amir MAKAR /
AFP/File

Egypt's economy, dominated by military-linked enterprises and recently focused
on infrastructure mega-projects, has been hit hard by a series of economic
shocks.

They include attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels on Red Sea shipping that have
slashed Suez Canal revenues which are among the main sources of foreign currency
for Egypt.

The country's external debt has ballooned to nearly $165 billion, and the cost
of servicing it is expected to reach $42 billion this year.

© 2024 AFP


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