European Commission -EU President Ursula von der Leyen has visited President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt in Cairo to discuss the Egypt-EU relations as well as the preparations for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in November.
Aside from discussing matters bothering regional issues of mutual concerns, the EU President, also talked about the grain shortage in Egypt which has relied on Russia and Ukraine for over 80 percent of its wheat, and has pledged a relief worth 100 million euros ($104 million) for food security, as well as discussing a bilateral understanding with Egypt to help the EU diversify from being over-dependent on fossil fuels from Russian apart from the landmark $15 billion deal in 2020, the EU signed with Israel to export gas from an offshore field to Egypt, where it is liquefied and shipped to European countries.
The EU envoy also stated that “It is very important that here we stand together, globally, to manage this food security crisis, that we find solutions that are fair for everybody, that we look at the distribution of grain, for example, worldwide, and that we really have an emphasis on vulnerable countries,” von der Leyen said.
While discussing with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, she referenced Egypt as a trustworthy partner and that the EU is looking up to it for fossil fuel supplies, von der Leyen added.
She also said since Egypt has sun and wind power, “the energies of the future”, in abundance, the EU would jointly work with Egypt in exploring them for “common interest” and also pledged three billion euros in “agriculture and nutrition, water and sanitation programmes over the next years in the region adding that the European Union was very interested in investing in the local food production in Egypt she added.
President Sisi on his part said that the continuous direct communication and joint work at all levels between Egypt and the EU would strengthen and intensify the momentum [of cooperation] with the aim of achieving a qualitative leap in its partnership, especially in light of the difficult political and economic conditions that the world is currently going through.
He also made it known that the meeting gives the country to reaffirm that his country sees the EU as a key partner especially as Egypt tends towards a steady path of construction and development through an ambitious future vision.
Sisi in his appreciation of the weight and importance of the EU as an essential economic and political power in the international arena” affirmed that his meeting with the President of the European Commission, which touched on joint coordination, is a connection to international efforts to confront the challenge of climate change.