Page 18 - Issue 70

Vol 1 - issue 70 ELITE

He also spoke about the 1995 Barcelona Regarding Egypt-EU relations post-January
Initiative, aimed at enhancing cooperation 25 Revolution, Ambassador Saad mentioned
across the Mediterranean, highlighting that the EU initially supported the revolution
Europe’s growing interest in infrastructure as a democratic reaction without fully
projects, particularly the Suez Canal understanding the surrounding
Development Project due to its strategic circumstances. Despite initial tensions, the
location. EU soon recognized Egypt’s vital historical
and geographical role. The Ambassador
He explained how the initiative evolved himself played a significant role in easing
into Association Agreements involving tensions by engaging in strategic dialogues
vertical agreements between the EU and with the European Commission and
Mediterranean countries, and horizontal European Council.
agreements among southern and eastern
nations, with the goal of forming the He then discussed major crises faced by the

world’s largest free trade area. Although EU, starting with COVID-19, Brexit, and the
this goal was not fully achieved, trade ongoing Ukraine crisis, which heavily
agreements continued to flourish. Egypt- drained European treasuries. He criticized
EU trade volume reached 37 billion euros, the U.S. military dominance over Europe via
with notable growth in Egyptian exports. NATO, noting the tension between the
current U.S. administration and EU
He also touched upon the customs countries, particularly regarding demands to
exemption period that lasted until 2019, increase NATO defense spending to 5%. He
noting that it failed to achieve its goal of mentioned U.S. President Donald Trump
helping Egypt build a car manufacturing inviting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to
industry between 2004 and 2019, rather encourage non-member European countries
than just assembling cars. to bear more of the defense burden. He
predicted that the UK, often seen as the
U.S.'s second face in the EU, might

eventually rejoin the Union. Ambassador
Saad highlighted Germany’s current
economic crisis and the establishment of a
500 billion euro fund for defense and security
infrastructure, predicting an uncertain future
for Europe. Despite challenges, he stressed
that the EU remains globally influential.

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