New strategic partnership: The EU concludes a multi-billion dollar agreement with economically struggling Egypt. In return, the country should curb migration towards Europe.
Egypt can hope for EU financial aid worth around 7.4 billion euros by the end of 2027. The support in the form of loans and grants should be part of a new strategic partnership, the European Commission announced at a top meeting of EU representatives with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.
According to reports from Egyptian officials, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wanted to sign the agreement together with the heads of state and government of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece.
Fight against migration
The agreement aims for Egypt to curb irregular migration towards Europe. The Greek government in particular has recently been concerned about a new refugee route from Tobruk in Libya towards Crete. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has already registered more than 1,000 people who arrived this year. Most of them are said to come from Egypt.
At the same time, cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, trade and security will be improved and grants, loans and other financing worth 7.4 billion euros will be made available over the next three years to support Egypt’s weakening economy.
According to the information, five billion euros are earmarked for loans and 1.8 billion euros for investments in areas such as food security and digitalization. 600 million euros should therefore flow as grants, 200 million of which will go to migration management.
The models for the deal are the EU migration agreements with Turkey and, most recently, Tunisia and Mauritania. However, refugee organizations believe that the protection of human rights is not being safeguarded.
Fewer tourists and natural gas imports
European governments have long been concerned about growing instability in Egypt’s population of 106 million. The country has been hit hard by Israel’s war against Hamas in neighboring Gaza, which has hit tourism and natural gas imports.
The country has difficulty obtaining foreign currency. The economic hardship has caused more and more people to emigrate in recent years.