The European Union (EU) will allocate 7.4 billion euros over the next four years to strengthen its “strategic partnership” with Egypt, money that will help to revive the country’s battered economic situation in a context of maximum tension in the Middle East and North Africa.

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European leaders today signed with Egyptian President Abdelfatah al Sisi a package of 7.4 billion euros over the next four years to help revive the African country’s battered economy at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East and North Africa.

Of this sum, some 5 billion will be in loans, another 1.8 billion in investments and bilateral projects, in addition to 600 million in grants, of which some 200 million will go exclusively to “migration control”, one of Europe’s main concerns.

The European Union announced a €7.4 billion funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt on Sunday, part of a push to stem migrant flows to Europe criticised by rights groups. @igorsushko @AdamBienkov https://t.co/nSDZHbK4UR

— EU Chronicles (@EU_chronicles) March 18, 2024

“We recognize that Egypt’s stability and prosperity is of fundamental importance to the EU,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a press conference from Cairo alongside his counterparts from Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Belgium, in addition to EC President Ursula Von der Leyen.

For his part, the Austrian Chancellor has underlined that this agreement is “an important step for the security of Europe” and thanked Al Sisi for “making sure that no irregular migrant smugglers’ boats have left the Egyptian coasts since 2016”.

The Italian Prime Minister stressed that this agreement is “very precious in the current context” and crucial to “face the challenge of migration, prevent irregular flows and put an end to traffickers”.

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Al Sisi has recalled that in Egypt there are about nine million “foreigners” who are receiving almost the same treatment as Egyptian nationals and, in a veiled way, has slipped that in case of economic collapse the country would not be able to contain the migratory flows. Egypt has been one of the main destination points for large numbers of refugees fleeing the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and more recently Sudan, while the war in Gaza is at the gates of its territory.

-Thailand News (TN)