Highlights: The European Union will sign a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt. The agreement includes “ 5 billion euros in loans, including one billion paid before the end of 2024, 1.8 billion in investments, 400 million in aid for bilateral projects” The EU also wants to work with Egypt on “ security, counter-terrorism and border protection, particularly the southern border’ The migration aspect of the agreement is of the same type as that signed in July 2023 with Tunisia.

The European Union (EU) will sign this Sunday a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt, plunged into its worst economic crisis, the majority of loans spread out until 2027, but…

The European Union will sign a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt

The European Union (EU) will sign this Sunday a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt, plunged into its worst economic crisis, mainly loans spread out until 2027, but also aid and investments, said a European official.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi on March 17, 2024 in Cairo.

By: RFI with AFP

The agreement includes “

5

billion euros in loans, including one billion paid before the end of 2024, 1.8

billion in investments, 400

million in aid for bilateral projects and 200 million in aid for programs addressing the issues migration

,” detailed this senior European Commission official on condition of anonymity.

This agreement will be signed in Cairo between Egyptian President

Abdel Fattah al-Sissi

and European Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen

, alongside five European heads of state and governments.

The EU wants to “

cooperate in the areas of energy, more particularly in the field of liquefied natural gas, to move further away from Russian gas

,” said the European official.

The EU also wants to work with Egypt

security, counter-terrorism and border protection, particularly the southern border

", given that "

Egypt is under even more pressure from

warring Sudan". for almost a year.

Also included in the European delegation in Egypt are Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Ministers Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Italian Giorgia Meloni, major partners of Egypt in its gas fields in the Mediterranean.

The migration aspect of the agreement is of the same type as that signed in July 2023 with Tunisia: the Europeans expect the countries of origin or transit of migrants to stop departures and readmit their nationals in an irregular situation in the EU.

For the NGO Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE), the European Union wants to “

subcontract to the countries of North Africa, in particular Egypt [...] the restriction of the freedom of movement of migrants

”.

This influx 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.

Cairo, which devotes a good part of its resources to repaying its external debt, which has tripled in a decade to reach nearly 165 billion dollars, is banking in particular on its natural gas to obtain revenue in dollars.

The European Union will sign a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt

The European Union will sign a partnership agreement for 7.4 billion euros with Egypt

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