EU, Egypt sign package to boost economy
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. 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. "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. (AFP)