CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi affirmed that his country is “continuously working to deepen the partnership with the EU in order to achieve a qualitative leap in the relationship between the two sides.”
In a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, El-Sisi said that the EU is a key partner for Egypt.
The Egyptian president also indicated that “his country is working to strengthen cooperation with the EU, especially in the field of energy,” pointing out that an agreement was reached that will lay the foundations of a strategic partnership in the field of energy with Europe.
“The international community is going through a delicate circumstance and the language of dialogue must prevail to resolve disputes,” he said, adding that he had discussed food security and high energy prices with the European Commission president.
El-Sisi that Egypt “has agreed with the EU to coordinate international efforts to mitigate the repercussions of the global food crisis.”
In addition, an Egyptian-European statement stressed “the priority of promoting sustainable development, confronting climate change and environmental degradation, and ensuring energy security.”
El-Sisi said that “the security of gas supplies is a common concern. Egypt and the EU will work together on the stable delivery of gas to the EU, and on the sustainable use of natural gas resources within the framework of long-term carbon reduction goals and measures related to managing and reducing methane emissions.”
In this context, Egypt and Brussels welcomed the signing of the relevant memorandum of understanding between Egypt, Israel and the EU on June 15.
The statement said that “both Egypt and the EU realize that geopolitical realities and the current state of the energy market require accelerating and intensifying this partnership.”
It added: “By working together as partners, Egypt and the EU will face common challenges in the security of energy supplies and diversification of energy sources.”
In this regard, he said that “the EU and Egypt will intensify cooperation, focusing on renewable energy sources, hydrogen, work on energy efficiency, and the production of clean fuels, especially hydrogen, in an economically feasible manner.”
The statement said that Egypt and the EU “realize that the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are essential pillars to make the world more resilient to future shocks, and that trade, investments and policy reform to support the implementation of these documents, based on their common principles, are the drivers of sustainable recovery and sustainable development.”
Egypt and the EU called on all countries to explore ways to expedite pledges to reduce emissions, and to achieve tangible progress toward an ambitious and transformative approach to dealing with the negative effects of climate change and fulfilling climate finance pledges.