European leaders at a summit in Cairo on Sunday announced a €7.4 billion funding package and the upgrading of the EU's relationship with Egypt to a “strategic partnership", a key part of which is to curb illegal migration across the Mediterranean.
The deal follows a similar agreement with Tunisia last year, and before then, a deal with the Libyan government in Tripoli, to link a range of assistance to efforts to curb migration.
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Cairo on Sunday at the head of the EU delegation, which also included the Italian and Greek prime ministers and the Cypriot president.
Ramadan Kareem. Today is truly a historic moment
Ursula von der Leyen
"Ramadan Kareem. Today is truly a historic moment. Today we announce the signature of our Joint Declaration for a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership with Egypt," Ms von der Leyen said at the summit.
"We want a partnership on many matters ranging from trade and investment to controlling migration."
Ms von der Leyen said the partnership will be built on six main pillars which include "matters of regional importance", economic stability, investment and trade, migration and mobility, security and law enforcement.
Under the deal, which aims to increase Egypt-EU co-operation predominantly in renewable energy, trade, and security, Cairo will receive a total of €5 billion in cash between 2024 and 2027, €1 billion of which will be received this year, according to statements by senior EU officials.
The remaining €2.4 billion will comprise grants, investments and partnership agreements in various sectors.
The funding package is the third to be secured by cash-strapped Egypt since the start of the year and follows the signing of an investment deal with the UAE in late February under which Cairo will receive $35 billion. That investment deal helped greenlight a long-awaited loan from the IMF worth $8 billion.
The North African country has been struggling with record inflation that has exacerbated poverty among its 105 million population. Cairo is grappling with its highest external debt levels in history and a more than 70 per cent drop in the value of the local currency following four devaluations since 2022.
The announcement of the deal, which has been in the works since last year, according to Ms Von der Leyen, comes as the civil war in Sudan, which shares borders with Egypt, has raised concerns in Brussels over increased levels of illegal immigration.
The civil war has already resulted in the internal displacement of six million people, 1.4 million of whom have fled into five neighbouring countries: the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
In October, the UNHCR said 317,000 Sudanese migrants had crossed into Egypt since the civil war began in April of last year.
The commission also expressed concerns about "the unfolding catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Gaza and urged Egypt to continue its efforts to broker a ceasefire and deliver aid.
European countries received 330,000 undocumented migrants in 2022, the highest rate since 2016, according to data from Frontex, the EU border agency.
Egyptians made up the highest group of illegal migrants to Europe who arrived through the central Mediterranean route, which was used by more than 100,000 migrants in 2022, Frontex said.
Most illegal migrants set sail for Europe on boats that depart from either Libyan or Turkish ports which they first travel to by plane, according to a July 2022 report by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
Curbing illegal migration has been an important point of co-operation between the government of the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the Egyptian military and the EU.
Sunday’s deal has been denounced by activists as a means of Europe achieving its interests at the expense of human rights, particularly where it concerns the treatment of migrants seized in the Mediterranean by the Egyptian military.
The EU was accused in a December 2023 Human Rights Watch report of ignoring rampant human rights abuses by its Middle Eastern and North African state partners.
The organisation urged the EU to use such deals to pressure Arab and African leaders to protect their own people’s rights as well as the EU’s interests.
A similar deal signed with Tunisia in 2023 was met with criticism by rights groups, most of whom are highly critical of the rule of president Kais Saied, whose government is accused of ignoring beatings and detentions of Black African migrants.
Following the deal, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said the deal with Tunisia “makes the EU directly complicit in the ongoing abuse” of migrants trapped in the country.
The EU is Egypt’s biggest trading partner, and is responsible for around 25 per cent of Egypt’s trade volume.
EU exports to Egypt amounted to around €20.9 billion in 2022, while it imported Egyptian goods worth around €16.3 billion during the same year.
Egypt exported 80 per cent of its liquefied natural gas output to the EU in 2022 following the signing of a deal, in which Israel was a third party, to shore up European energy supplies in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Before the conflict, Russia had been Europe’s biggest supplier of fossil fuels, accounting for more than half of the continent’s demands in 2020, but Europe eliminated Russian gas imports following the 2022 invasion.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Mobile phone packages comparison
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Look north
BBC business reporters, like a new raft of government officials, are being removed from the national and international hub of London and surely the quality of their work must suffer.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
Group B: Bangladesh, Serbia, Korea
Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
SCORES
Yorkshire Vikings 144-1 in 12.5 overs
(Tom Kohler 72 not out, Harry Broook 42 not out)
bt Hobart Hurricanes 140-7 in 20 overs
(Caleb Jewell 38, Sean Willis 35, Karl Carver 2-29, Josh Shaw 2-39)
