Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty said Egypt’s foreign policy aims to serve the interests and stability of the region.
Egypt succeeded in achieving strategic balance and is having strategic partnerships with all global powers despite their differences, Abdelatty told an interview with AlQahera News channel that was broadcast on Friday 18/10/2024.
The foreign minister noted that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has adopted a basic principle governing Egyptian foreign policy: not being drawn into the current state of global polarization.
Balance means openness to everyone without any ideological prejudices, Abdelatty said, noting that Egypt has strategic partnerships with all effective global powers despite contradictions among them.
This is an evidence of the success of the policy of strategic balance, he added.
Egypt is engaged in a strategic dialogue with the United States, a round of which was recently held in Cairo, the foreign minister said. It also has a strategic and comprehensive partnership with the European Union that was launched several months ago, he added.
“We also have a strategic dialogue with China and now we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of its launch,” he said, pointing out to similar strategic dialogues with the Russian Federation, Brazil and India.
Egypt is also in the final stages of launching a strategic dialogue with Germany and Spain, Abdelatty said.
The foreign minister highlighted Egypt’s constant efforts to stop the bloodshed of the Palestinian people and cease daily systematic Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon.
Abdelatty emphasized that Egypt was the only country that has repeatedly warned about the risks of an escalation of the conflict in the region.
He said that Egypt has scrambled since the eruption of conflict between Hamas and Israel on October 7, 2023, to host an international conference grouping several world countries, with the aim of reaching an immediate ceasefire and stopping the systematic killing of civilians in Gaza.
The foreign minister stated that the mediation efforts led by Egypt, Qatar and the US were close to secure a ceasefire deal aimed at facilitating the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, alleviating the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ensuring the sufficient delivery of humanitarian and medical aid into the enclave.
Abdelatty ascribed the failure to strike such a deal to the absence of the Israeli political will.
He noted that Egypt has repeatedly cautioned against dragging the region into a full-scale regional war that will only lead to devastation in the region.
He denounced the unprecedented Israeli war in Gaza that has so far killed and injured more than 150,000 people and resulted in the displacement of over 1.7 million residents.
The foreign minister expressed Egypt’s astonishment at the international community’s failure to deter Israel, which uses starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
Abdelatty said Egypt’s total rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Sinai is not only related to the Egyptian national security, but to the Palestinian cause as well.
This scenario was being planned by the Israeli side and it certainly meant to torpedo the Palestinian cause, Abdelatty added, noting that the Palestinian cause exists because there are people who are attached to their occupied land and are still living on it.
Egypt was aware of this Israeli scheme and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was fully aware of this matter, and therefore a red line was set for not accepting this scheme under any circumstances in order to protect the Palestinian cause and preserve the Egyptian national security, the foreign minister said.
When Israel failed to implement this displacement plan for residents of the Gaza Strip to Egypt, there were persistent attempts that are still ongoing to displace the West Bank inhabitants to Jordan, he added.
Egypt and Jordan have identical visions and positions as regards not allowing any displacement under any circumstances as it may represent the end of the Palestinian cause and its complete “liquidation”, Abdelatty said.
In the same regard, he stressed Egypt and Jordan’s categorical rejection of “liquidating” the Palestinian cause at the expense of them as two neighboring states.
Commenting on Israel’s desire to impose its will on countries of the region, Abdelatty said “we affirm and recall the lessons of the past and history that the arrogance of power cannot achieve peace and security for Israel. Security, stability and peace for Israel … depend only on restoring rights to their people and meeting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
The foreign minister gave an example of the arrogance of power, recalling the glorious October 6, 1973 War which “reminded the Israeli side and the whole world that the arrogance of power cannot lead to peace in the region”.
Abdelatty also emphasized the Egyptian state’s readiness in terms of training, fighting, and defending the country’s borders, stressing that no party dares to undermine Egypt’s sovereignty and borders as they know full well the extent of its response, which he said will be extremely harsh.
The Egyptian state is fully aware of all schemes in the region, said the foreign minister, adding that Egypt led the peace process, and it was impossible to bring about peace in the region, without its leading role.
Late president Anwar Sadat sacrificed his life for his initiative to achieve lasting peace with Israel, Abdelatty said.
Egypt is fully aware that there is no peace without a force to protect it, he said.
He made it clear that the Egyptian state will not conspire against any party or attack anyone, and its Armed Forces are present within the Egyptian borders to safeguard homeland and defend the country’s national security.
The Egyptian army is fully prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty, and guard its borders, a matter that helps maintain stability and peace in the region, he said.
Peace is extremely important to preserve the lives of peoples, and is closely linked to the development process, he said, stressing the need to secure more than one million job opportunities annually.
He cited the EU-Egypt Investment Conference that was launched by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in June, in presence of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and stimulated FDI flows.
In the Egyptian market, there was a real desire from many international companies to seize the opportunity provided by the investment climate in Egypt, Abdelatty added.
The Foreign Minister stressed the need for peace, security and stability in the region, a matter that makes investments multiply rapidly.
In spite of the real challenges facing the Middle East region and world countries, the Egyptian economy has proven its ability to rise to these challenges and attract foreign investments, he said.
Egypt has partners in the European Union, and the United States, he said, underlining that preparations are underway to hold a high-level investment conference and forum in the first quarter of 2025.
During his participation in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York from September 22 to 27, Abdelatty said that he met with more than 100 US companies, adding they expressed their keenness to invest in Egypt, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector and energy sources, including fossil fuels, new and clean energy and green hydrogen.
There is a strong desire to invest in Egypt in the digitization sector, AI applications, and manufacturing, he said, adding foreign companies know that Egypt has an industrial development strategy, particularly with regard to the localization of the industry.
