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Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Cairo, March 17, 2024 –

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The European Union on Sunday signed a 7.4 billion euro ($8 billion) “strategic” agreement with Egypt focusing especially on energy and migration, worrying human rights defenders.

The agreement was signed in Cairo by the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al Sisi, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, along with five European heads of state and government.

This includes “5 billion euros in loans, of which 1 billion will be paid before the end of 2024, 1.8 billion euros in investments, 400 million in aid for bilateral projects and 200 million in aid for programs related to migration issues,” said a senior official from the European Commission, on condition of anonymity.

With this agreement, “we elevate the relationship between the European Union and Egypt to the category of a global strategic partnership,” von der Leyen celebrated.

The European delegation in Egypt was made up of the Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek prime ministers – Kyriakos Mitsotakis -, the Italian prime ministers – Giorgia Meloni – and the Belgian prime ministers – Alexander de Croo -, and the Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer.

The injection of funds – which will last until the end of 2027 – is a breath of fresh air for Egypt, suffering from the worst economic crisis in its history.

Egypt dedicates a large part of its resources to repaying its foreign debt, which tripled in a decade to reach almost $165 billion.

The country is especially betting on its natural gas to obtain income in foreign currencies, and the EU wants to “cooperate” to dispense “even more with Russian gas,” said the senior European official.

The migration aspect of the agreement is similar to the one signed in July with Tunisia: the EU expects the countries of origin or transit of migrants to stop departures and readmit their nationals in an irregular situation into European territory.

For the NGO Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE), the EU wants to “subcontract North African countries, in particular Egypt (…) to limit the freedom of movement of migrants.”

“The pattern is the same as that of the EU’s poor agreements with Tunisia and Mauritania: detain migrants, ignore abuses,” warns Human Rights Watch (HRW).

This NGO claims to have “already documented arbitrary detentions and mistreatment of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees by the Egyptian authorities, as well as deportations” to countries mired in violence.

Three months before the elections to the European Parliament, in which polls predict a rise of the extreme right, European leaders want to show their firmness against illegal immigration.

“We must be partners in eliminating illegal migration”, especially by “creating prospects and jobs for young people”, declared the Belgian Prime Minister, whose country currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Egypt repeats that, since 2016, no migrant boat has set sail from its coasts. However, Egyptians continue to arrive in Europe by sea, from Libya or Tunisia to Italy.

In 2023, the European Border Agency (Frontex) recorded almost 158,000 migrant arrivals in Europe via this route, the most dangerous in the world, an increase of 50% compared to 2022.

2024-03-17 16:45:11
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