CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday that Cairo would take all necessary measures to preserve Sudan’s unity, as the neighboring country approaches its fourth year of war between the army and its paramilitary rivals.
Speaking at a press conference with the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, Abdelatty said Egypt “will not stand idly by and will not hesitate to take the necessary measures in a way that preserves Sudan, its unity and territorial integrity.”
Egypt shares its southern border with Sudan, and is one of the closest allies of the Sudanese army, which has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.
Abdelatty said that Egypt “will not accept and will not allow under any circumstances the collapse of Sudan, the collapse of Sudanese national institutions or harming the unity of Sudan.”
“These are red lines,” he continued, adding that “a violation to Sudan’s national security is a violation of Egypt’s national security.”
The foreign minister’s comments echoed remarks made by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during a meeting last month with Sudan’s army chief and de facto leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.
At the meeting, El-Sisi had also described any threat to Sudanese state institutions as a “red line for Egypt.”
A statement from his office added that Cairo reserved the “full right to take all necessary measures under international law,” including potentially activating a joint defense agreement.
Egypt and Sudan have a long-standing history of military cooperation. In March 2021, they signed an agreement covering training, border security and joint efforts against shared threats, building on a 1976 defense pact aimed at countering external dangers.
Egypt 'won’t hesitate' to help preserve Sudan's unity
https://arab.news/pmnfn
Egypt 'won’t hesitate' to help preserve Sudan's unity
- Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says Cairo 'will not allow under any circumstances' collapse of its neighbor
- Egypt supports the Sudanese army, which has been fighting the paramilitary RSF since April 2023
EU assembly weighs freezing US trade deal over Trump’s Greenland threats
- Signatories were mainly fellow members of Clausen’s Left Group, but also included center-left Social Democrats and Greens
- Greens lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said the only argument in favor of the deal was to bring stability
BRUSSELS: The European Parliament is considering putting on hold the European Union’s implementation of the trade deal struck with the United States in protest over threats by US President Donald Trump to seize Greenland.
The European Parliament has been debating legislative proposals to remove many of the EU’s import duties on US goods — the bulk of the trade deal with the US — and to continue zero duties for US lobsters, initially agreed with Trump in 2020.
It was due to set its position in votes on January 26-27, which the MEPs said should now be postponed.
Leading members of the cross-parliamentary trade committee met to discuss the issue on Wednesday morning and decide whether to postpone the vote. In the end, they took no decision and settled on reconvening next week.
A parliamentary source said left-leaning and centrist groups favored taking action, such as a postponement.
A group of 23 lawmakers also urged the EU assembly’s president Roberta Metsola on Wednesday to freeze work on the agreement as long as the US administration continued its threats to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
“If we go through and approve a deal that Trump has seen as a personal victory, while he makes claims for Greenland and refuses to rule out any manner in which to achieve this, it will be easily seen as rewarding him and his actions,” the letter drafted by Danish lawmaker Per Clausen said.
Signatories were mainly fellow members of Clausen’s Left Group, but also included center-left Social Democrats and Greens.
Greens lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said the only argument in favor of the deal was to bring stability.
“Trump’s actions show again and again that chaos is his only offer,” she said.
French lawmaker Valerie Hayer, head of the centrist Renew Europe group, said on Tuesday the EU should consider holding off a vote if Trump’s threats continued.
Many lawmakers have complained that the US trade deal is lopsided, with the EU required to cut most import duties while the US sticks to a broad rate of 15 percent.
However, freezing the deal risks angering Trump, which could lead to higher US tariffs. The Trump administration has also ruled out any concessions, such as cutting tariffs on spirits or steel, until the deal is in place.
