The European Union announced a 8-billion dollar aid package for cash-strapped Egypt as concerns mount that economic pressure and conflicts in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores.
The deal, was signed yesterday in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The ceremony was attended by leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece.
el-Sissi told visiting European leaders that your visit represented a very important milestone in the relations between Egypt and the European Union. He said the deal has achieved a “paradigm shift in our partnership.
The aid package includes both grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country. According to the EU’s mission in Cairo, most of the funds 5.4 billion dollars are macro-financial assistance.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country played a major role in achieving the deal, lauded it as “historic.”
The deal comes amid growing concerns that Israel’s looming ground offensive on Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah could force hundreds of thousands of people to break into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt says there are nine million migrants in the country, including about four lakhs 80 thousands, who are registered refugees and asylum-seekers with the UN refugee agency.
