Egypt / Europe is turning its back on Al Sisi

The biggest worry of the European Union, as it watches the war in Gaza while washing its hands, is whether the conflict will spread to the neighboring countries and especially whether it will result in the destabilization of Egypt. A country with a very large and very poor population, opposite the coasts of the Old Continent and very afraid of triggering a new refugee-immigrant crisis in Europe.

That is why the E.U. is doing all it can to support the regime of – authoritarian – President Al Sisi in Cairo both symbolically and financially. Thus, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Council, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and the presidents of the governments of Italy, Greece, Austria and of Cyprus, to show their appreciation in the person of the Egyptian President, while at the same time they signed a joint EU-Egypt declaration endowed with 7.4 billion euros for the next four years. With this agreement, they want to help Egypt stand on its own two feet in the economy, the labor market, the environment, and energy.

The truth is that Egypt needs a lot more money, but any economic injection and foreign investment is welcome, especially now that revenues from Suez have plummeted, as merchant ships prefer to circumnavigate Africa rather than they risk facing fire from Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

The fact that Von der Leyen was accompanied by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Italian Giorgia Meloni and the Cypriot Nikos Christodoulidis was no coincidence. They have the greatest anxiety in front of a new wave of refugees, and therefore the greatest interest in getting Al-Sisi to keep Egypt’s borders closed, land and sea. Already, many hunted from the wars in Africa are crossing from Egypt to Libya and from there boarding a ship bound for Italy, and finally Crete. And if tomorrow the Israelis succeed in pushing the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip, towards the Sinai, it is very likely that a new wave of refugees will be triggered.

Communication fireworks

The Mitsotakis government is trying to hide its anxiety about the possibility that the arrivals of refugees from the South will multiply behind communication fireworks. It places the prime minister as the protagonist of the agreement with Egypt, as the one who has convinced other Europeans to support the Egyptian President and indeed as a bulwark against the Muslim Brotherhood, which Erdogan supports. In fact, even Erdogan wants the support of Al-Sisi at this stage, as he has recently taken the initiative to rewarm Turkish-Egyptian relations. It is noted that the E.E. has long sought a strategic partnership with Egypt, seeing the country as a pillar of stability in its troubled region – and wanting it to remain so. That is why the Commission described the signing of the agreement with Egypt as a “historic move”.