CAIRO: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was in Cairo on Saturday to kick off a two-day investment conference, where deals potentially worth over $42 billion are expected to be signed.
“At this conference, European companies are signing over 20 new deals ... which are worth over 40 billions euros,” von der Leyen said at the meeting in the Egyptian capital.
The conference comes after a 7.4 billion-euro ($7.9 billion) EU funding package was signed in March to support the indebted North African country.
The strategic partnership deal provides the financial support in exchange for boosting energy sales to Europe and stemming migration.
“Today, we sign the first one billion euros in macrofinancial assistance,” the EU chief said, referring to the initial tranche of the funding package.
Macrofinancial aid, a series of medium and long term loans, “constitutes the large majority of the 7.4 billion euros in EU financial support under the partnership,” von der Leyen said.
Another 1.8 billion euros in European investments are hoped for as part of the deal, she added.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, is in dire need of financial help as it weathers a severe economic crisis marked by rapid inflation.
In his opening remarks, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the conference aimed to “enable European companies to benefit from investment opportunities in Egypt.”
The event’s agenda would focus on “employment, economic growth, green and renewable energies,” he said.
Through March’s aid deal, Egypt is betting on its natural gas reserves to gain access to foreign currency, while the EU has sought alternatives to Russian gas since the war in Ukraine.
The EU chief said “Egypt has the ambitious goal of becoming a clean energy hub and this is in Europe’s interest too.”
Human rights groups have criticized the migration conditions of the EU-Egypt partnership, which follows several controversial deals with Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania to stem the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.
US-based Human Rights Watch labelled the agreement part of “the EU’s cash-for-migration-control approach,” saying it “strengthens authoritarian rulers while betraying human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and activists whose work involves great personal risk.”
Amnesty International on Wednesday said the EU deal “must depend on human rights reforms.”
Egypt’s stability and prosperity are “essential for an entire region,” added von der Leyen, as war embroils neighboring Gaza and Sudan.
EU chief in Egypt for joint investment conference
https://arab.news/y3de6
EU chief in Egypt for joint investment conference
- The conference comes after a 7.4 billion-euro ($7.9 billion) EU funding package was signed in March to support Egypt
Sudan Quintet urges ‘those with influence’ to halt weapons flow, deescalate conflict ahead of Ramadan
- Group of 5 international and regional organizations condemns ‘increasingly destructive means of warfare’ in Sudan’s civil war, warns that civilians bear the brunt of fighting
- UN spokesperson describes ‘horrific’ situation on the ground, expresses ‘deep alarm’ at escalating attacks on civilian and humanitarian infrastructure
NEW YORK CITY: A group of five international and regional organizations on Wednesday called for an immediate end to flows of weapons and fighters into Sudan, and for coordinated action to deescalate the war in the country and protect civilians as the third anniversary of the start of the conflict approaches.
The so-called Sudan Quintet — comprising the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States, the EU and the UN — said those with influence over the warring factions must act to “halt the flow of weapons, fighters and other forms of support that sustain violence and contribute to the fragmentation of Sudan.”
In a joint statement, the Quintet expressed “grave concern at the continued escalation of the conflict” and called for “the immediate halting of any further military escalation, including the use of increasingly destructive means of warfare.” Civilians are bearing the brunt of the fighting, it warned.
The conflict began in April 2023 when tensions between rival military factions the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalated into full-scale war in the capital Khartoum and spread across the country.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people; US intelligence officials and independent analysts have suggested the true death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands.
The conflict has also triggered what the UN describes as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than 33 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 13.6 million have been displaced by the fighting, 9.3 million of them within Sudan and about 4.3 million to neighboring countries.
The Quintet said the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Kordofan region and Blue Nile State was particularly alarming, citing reports of deadly drone strikes, the tightening grip of sieges around major population centers, and attacks on critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and humanitarian assets.
It also highlighted issues such as forced displacements, severe constraints on humanitarian access, and attacks on aid convoys. These developments “underscore the urgency of immediate action to prevent atrocities,” it said.
Recalling “the horrors witnessed in El-Fasher” and earlier warnings that went unheeded, the Quintet said civilians “must no longer bear the cost of ongoing hostilities.” The organizations stressed that the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure was a fundamental obligation under international law, and that the principles of international humanitarian law applies to all parties to the conflict.
“Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected, international humanitarian law must be respected, and safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to all areas in need must be ensured,” they said.
“Serious violations of international humanitarian law cannot go unaddressed,” they added, and perpetrators must be held accountable.
With the start of the holy month of Ramadan only a week away, the Quintet urged all sides to embrace efforts to broker a humanitarian truce and “immediately deescalate hostilities” so as to prevent further loss of life and enable life-saving assistance to reach those in need.
The organizations reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Sudan, and said they remain committed to efforts to facilitate a Sudanese-owned, inclusive political dialogue with the aim of ending the war and paving the way for a peaceful political transition.
The situation on the ground in Sudan continues to be “horrific,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday as he expressed “deep alarm” at “the escalating attacks that we’re seeing in the country, where aerial strikes are placing civilians at grave risk and directly hitting humanitarian and public infrastructure.”
A drone strike on a mosque in the city of Al-Rahat in North Kordofan state at dawn on Wednesday killed two children and injured 13, all of them students attending a school at the mosque.
This followed drone strikes on a primary school in the town of Dilling in South Kordofan late on Tuesday, where injuries were also reported. The same night, a World Food Programme warehouse in Kadugli, the state capital of Kordofan, was struck by a suspected rocket attack that caused significant damage to buildings and mobile storage units.
In recent days drone strikes been reported in other parts of South Kordofan, North Kordofan and West Kordofan, Dujarric said, all of them close to key supply routes connecting the city of El-Obeid in North Kordofan with Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan.
“This is endangering civilians, including humanitarian workers,” Dujarric told reporters in New York. “The fact that we have to reiterate almost every day that civilians, civilian infrastructure, places of worship, schools and hospitals cannot and should not be targeted is a tragedy unto itself.
“Yet we have to keep reminding the parties of this almost every day, and that they need to respect international humanitarian law amid these deeply concerning developments.”
