European leaders announced in Cairo on Sunday a package of 7.4 billion euros in funding and strengthening ties with Egypt, particularly to help stem the flow of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, despite criticism from human rights NGOs.
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The European Union (EU) signed a “strategic partnership” for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt, which is going through an economic crisis, on Sunday, March 17. The agreement specifically concerns the areas of energy and migration, causing concern among human rights defenders.
The text was signed later in the day in Cairo by the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, among five European heads of state and government.
It includes “five billion euros in loans, one billion to be repaid before the end of 2024, 1.8 billion in investments, 400 million in support for bilateral projects and 200 million in support for programs dealing with migration issues,” a senior European Commission official said. is Condition of anonymity.
With this agreement, “we are raising the relationship between the European Union and Egypt to the status of a global strategic partnership”, welcomed Ursula von der Leyen, “from trade to low carbon energy by managing the transition”.
Egypt in debt
This flow of funds – which will last until the end of 2027 – is a breath of fresh air for Egypt, which is currently going through the worst economic crisis in its history.
It adds to the latest financial boost received by Cairo: $35 billion injected by the United Arab Emirates, and an extension of five billion dollars in additional loans from the International Monetary Fund.
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Cairo devotes a good portion of its resources to paying off its external debt, which has tripled in a decade to nearly $165 billion.
Natural gas and the war in Gaza
Egypt is particularly banking on its natural gas to generate foreign currency income, and the European Union wants to “cooperate” in particular to do without “more Russian gas,” a senior European official confirmed, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. .
The European delegation in Egypt includes the Cypriot president, Nicos Christodoulides, and Greek prime ministers Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Italian Giorgia Meloni, Egypt’s main partners in its gas fields in the Mediterranean. Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Crewe were also present.
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All these leaders also spoke about the border conflicts in Cairo: in Sudan, Libya and Gaza where Israel – at war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas – increased pressure on Cairo by ensuring progress on its plans. The invasion of Rafah, at the gates of Egypt, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians displaced by the war huddle together.
“Egypt is a crucial country for Europe” because it “has an important position in a very difficult region,” a senior European official explained to reporters in Cairo.
Europeans are keen to show their firmness on immigration
EU wants to cooperate with Egypt – 136E Countries out of 142 in the World Justice Project’s Global Rule of Law Ranking – in “Security, Counter-Terrorism and Border Protection”.
The migration aspect of the agreement is similar to the one signed with Tunisia in July: Europeans expect countries of origin or transit of migrants to stop departures and re-enter their citizens in irregular situations in the EU.
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For the NGO Refugees Platform (RPE) in Egypt, the EU wants to make a sub-agreement to “restrict the freedom of movement of migrants from North African countries, especially Egypt (…)”.
“The pattern is similar to the EU’s shaky agreements with Tunisia and Mauritania: stop migration, ignore abuses,” warns Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The NGO claims that “arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment by Egyptian authorities of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, as well as deportations, have already been reported” in violence-plagued countries.
Three months before European Parliament elections where polls predict a right-wing surge, European leaders are keen to show their firmness on irregular immigration.
With AFP and Reuters
