The European Union is set to announce a 7.4-billion-euro ($8-billion) aid package for cash-stricken Egypt on Sunday, amid concerns that economic pressure and conflicts raging in neighboring countries could push more migrants to European shores.
The deal is scheduled to be signed during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece, according to Egyptian officials.
The package includes both grants and loans covering a period over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country, according to the European Union Mission in Cairo.
According to a document from the EU Mission in Egypt, the two sides have promoted their cooperation to the level of a "strategic and comprehensive partnership,” paving the way for expanding Egypt-EU cooperation in various economic and noneconomic areas.
The EU will provide assistance to Egypt’s government to fortify its borders, especially with Libya, a major transit point for migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and will support the government in hosting Sudanese who have fled conflict in their country.
Egypt has for decades been a refuge for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to escape war or poverty. For some, Egypt is a destination and a haven, the closest and easiest country for them to reach. For others, it is a point of transit before attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.
The agreements includes 5 billion euros in loans over four years, 1.8 billion euros in investment and hundreds of millions for bilateral projects including on migration, a senior European Commission official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
"Egypt is a critical country for Europe today and for the days to come," said the commission official, as per a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The official pointed to Egypt's "important position in a very difficult neighborhood, bordering Libya, Sudan and the Gaza Strip."
Egypt already hosts around 9 million migrants and refugees, including 4 million Sudanese and 1.5 million Syrians, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
The EU official said the deal includes steps to cooperate on "security, counterterrorism cooperation and protection of borders, in particular the southern one" with Sudan.
While the Egyptian coast has not been a major launching pad for people smugglers and human traffickers sending overcrowded boats across the Mediterranean to Europe, Egypt faces migratory pressures from the region, with the added looming threat that Israel's war on Gaza will spill across its borders.
Highly indebted Egypt is in dire need of financial help as it weathers a severe economic crisis marked by rapid inflation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month agreed to an $8 billion loan package after Cairo implemented a flexible exchange rate and raised interest rates.
